Cage-dive boat capsizes in South Africa

[DandyDon]

DandyDon, You have a point. I was recently on a day boat. As we left the marina the crew handed out life jackets and had us put them on. I did but felt a bit silly and didn't know why we were doing so. Then it was explained there is a sand bar in the area and thus a risk. Once we were clear of it we didn't have to wear them. The process was reversed on the way in. Better safe than sorry.

Condolences to the families of the 3 divers on the boat in South Africa.

Oh I often wear an inflated snorkel vest on boats when no one else would think of doing so. I'm a maverick by nature, have to work at safety - but it's really a good idea.

Excerpted from: Boating deaths up - NJ.com: Jersey Boating

...the number of boating fatalities increased (710 deaths in 2006 vs. 697 in 2005) as did the number of injuries (3,474 injuries in 2006 vs. 3,451 in 2005). The reports also show some other consistent and disturbing facts; two-thirds of all fatal boating accident victims drowned. Of those, 90 percent were not wearing their life jackets.

One can argue that the numbers are down from 1,000 a year in years past while we have over a million boats now, it's safer on a larger boat and/or one operated by a licensed captain. Also from that article...

Eight out of every ten boaters who drowned were using boats less than 20 feet in length.

Also consistent with previous years - 70% of reported fatalities occurred on boats where the operator had not received boating safety instruction. The report states that operator inattention, carelessness/reckless operation, excessive speed, and failure to maintain a proper lookout are the primary contributing factors in all reported accidents.

And despite the progress being made against driving under the influence (DUI) - alcohol use is the leading contributing factor in fatal boating accidents; accounting for nearly twenty (20) percent of all reported fatalities.

But don't bother telling the families of those 3 dead divers that; don't think it's much that they were on a safer boat - still dead.

Here in the US alone, 2/3 drowned, 90% no life jacket, 420 died in the water for not wearing a flotation device. Why not wear one all the way to the site?

South of the US, I've been on boats that didn't have any, or channel crossings - but I got mine.

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[james croft]

I operate a state LE patrol boat. We always wear a PFD. Ours are the inflatable suspender style that inflate automatically when hitting the water. We never even notice that we are wearing them. I am also a PSD diver and have to recover bodies from boating incidents where folks drown. I have fished out a bunch of bodies from the water over the past 28 years and so far not one of them was wearing a floatation device. If you don't wear one you should.

 

[tridacna]

I was on that boat before. Shark Team -it's a 70ft catamaran. That must have been some serious wave to capsize it. Safety measures are really a side thought. All warnings were about the sharks and not boat safety.

 

[DandyDon]

Several follow-up stores available on this accident....

IOL: Widow's agonising wait for shark boat news
excerpted....

The widow of one of the tourists who drowned when a giant wave overturned a shark-diving boat on Sunday spent frantic hours trying to find out if her husband had survived.

Sarah, who married Chris Tallman, 34, in November, became worried when her husband did not e-mail her. He had said he would do so after returning from the trip on Sunday.

She looked for Cape Town news on-line, and found a story about the accident in Kleinbaai, near Gansbaai.

They told her she had to get the names of the victims from the American embassy, which was closed
She immediately called the National Sea Rescue Institute and police, praying her husband was not involved.

(more)

IOL: Shark-diving industry mourns deaths Expeditions canceled

Shark saga: Life jackets query : South Africa: News: News24
Excerpting...

Cape Town - White Shark Projects is facing possible prosecution after photos of Sunday's boating tragedy near Kleinbaai showed that passengers on the boat, Shark Team, had not been wearing life jackets.

(more)

Freak wave 'totally unforeseen': South Africa: News: News24

But I guess most don't want to be bothered with flotation devices while on a boat...

 

[Oside Jimc]

These rogue waves are not uncommon, in particular when anchored on reefs. I remember the fish-n-fool going down off Baja when it was capsized by a rogue wave, only 2 people survived the sinking, most escaped the hull, but died of hypothermia.

 

[String]

No proof that life jackets would have saved them in this case. If trapped in a boat or under one a vest isnt always going to help.

SA must have different regulations to here. It would be illegal here to have anyone on a boat without a buoyancy aid. Not sure if SOLAS regs state they must be worn or simply available.

 

[GrierHPharmD]

Sorry to hear about that. I've done the Gaansbai dive trip (on the White Pointer, though), and can only say positive things about our crew and overall safety considerations.

Those trips are relatively close in-shore. (I seem to remember a max distance of less than 2 miles - you could easily make out shore details.) I also remember a safety briefing that was essentially the same as the ones that I've heard in the States.

Must have been a crazy rogue wave. Tragic for the divers and their families, and it's so unnecessary but predictable that the media would play up such an event...

 

[leapfrog]

Usual media claptrap is saying they were circled by great whites, etc, but they'd only just arrived on the scene and no chum had been put out, so apparently no sharks were actively in the area.

I think "Jaws" did a lot of damage to both great whites and a whole load of people I meet all over the world who are afraid to go swimming a few yards out from the beach in case they get eaten by a shark. When asked why they should think such a thing they all say "You didn't see Jaws? I have never enjoyed swimming in the sea since then". Obviously the media just love the idea of a boat capsizing and all these poor people being ripped to pieces by "monster sharks". My condolences also to family and friends and let's all try to enforce the use of life preservers on boats where and when it makes sense. On a slightly different note I don't really know why people want to get in a cage and then have great whites ram it while they are inside............

 

[AbyssalPlains]

That would be upsetting even as a survivor, to pay all that money and travel that far, end up in the water, sharks closing in, screaming "Wait, you promised me a cage!"

Sorry about the loses. Wish more divers wore Vests while riding on boats.

Call me ignorant, but I don't understand how a life vest would have saved a life in what appeared to have happened in this case. From what I understand, other boats came to the scene fairly quick. IMHO, people who can't swim or at least tread water, shouldn't be on a diving boat in the first place.

 

[leapfrog]

Call me ignorant, but I don't understand how a life vest would have saved a life in what appeared to have happened in this case. From what I understand, other boats came to the scene fairly quick. IMHO, people who can't swim or at least tread water, shouldn't be on a diving boat in the first place.

It is not the same to get into the water voluntarily than to be thrown into the sea suddenly by a freak wave. Apart from the initial shock, possible cardiac arrest or that they were probably hit on te head by the boat itself or maimed in the accident you would be surprised to find out that sometimes even very strong swimmers can drown when caught unaware. Sailor Drowns During Patuxent Drill - The Washington Post - HighBeam Research