Dive Boat in Dominica Kills Student

[Ripple in still water]

I'll be avoiding this op if I visit Dominica to dive. UPDATE: American student dies off Mero in boat accident | Dominica News Online , Va. Student Killed In Dominica Boating Accident | wusa9.com . It's hard for me to assign this kind of accident to anything but sheer operator negligence.

 

[Wookie]

Unless the swimmer was specifically briefed to swim in a certain area not behind the boat, or not in the area of the boat and she didn't listen or pay attention to the briefing. Still, what a senseless waste.

Their boats are a 30 foot island hopper with fly bridge and a 60 foot catamaran with fly bridge. It should have been easy for the captain to see behind either boat as he was backing down. Likely the worst thing a captain can ever do is drive over a diver.

 

[ScubaSteve1962]

From what the article said the boat was picking up food, and she was caught when the boat was backing up. Why was she swimming behind the boat? It's a tragic accident, but it's just that an accident!

 

[diverrex]

From what the article said the boat was picking up food, and she was caught when the boat was backing up. Why was she swimming behind the boat? It's a tragic accident, but it's just that an accident!

Well I would say it's an accident in the sense that I doubt it happened on purpose, but with what little information was in the news report I can't see how it could be clearly classsified as an "accident" in the sense that nobody was at fault. Maybe nobody was, but maybe somebody was, there is way too little info at this point to know.

 

[vladimir]

From what the article said the boat was picking up food, and she was caught when the boat was backing up. Why was she swimming behind the boat? It's a tragic accident, but it's just that an accident!

I have no idea why she was swimming behind the boat, but on many (most?) of the boats I dive from re-boarding is done at the stern, in close proximity to the propeller.

 

[t-mac]

I have no idea why she was swimming behind the boat, but on many (most?) of the boats I dive from re-boarding is done at the stern, in close proximity to the propeller.

My question is why the boat was running with swimmers in the water -- and backing down to boot. Seems to me the boat has a greater responsibility of care in this case than the swimmer. Seemingly an avoidable tragedy.

 

[ScubaSteve1962]

My question is why the boat was running with swimmers in the water -- and backing down to boot. Seems to me the boat has a greater responsibility of care in this case than the swimmer. Seemingly an avoidable tragedy.

so you have never seen people swimming in boating lanes or to near moving boats? I don't know where this boat was when this happened, but I've seen people do it all the time, whether it be swimming or scuba diving. It really happens a lot in vacation spots, you get the snorkelers who will swim out under the ropes on the beaches to get a better view. Like I said this was tragic accident, and like all accidents yes they are avoidable, that's why they are call accidents. But with society now, someone always have to be blamed no matter what.

 

[t-mac]

so you have never seen people swimming in boating lanes or to near moving boats? I don't know where this boat was when this happened, but I've seen people do it all the time, whether it be swimming or scuba diving. It really happens a lot in vacation spots, you get the snorkelers who will swim out under the ropes on the beaches to get a better view. Like I said this was tragic accident, and like all accidents yes they are avoidable, that's why they are call accidents. But with society now, someone always have to be blamed no matter what.

No need to be snarky. I was under the impression, perhaps false, that she was run down by the boat she was swimming from. In re-reading the stories, I still believe this to be what was reported (perhaps you have other facts about her swimming into boat traffic?). If the reported facts are correct and she was run down by her dive boat, I do believe mine is a legitimate question I ask. If a dive boat puts me in the water and then runs me down, yes I take issue with that, and I think someone should be asking questions so it doesn't happen again.

 

[ScubaSteve1962]

No need to be snarky. I was under the impression, perhaps false, that she was run down by the boat she was swimming from. In re-reading the stories, I still believe this to be what was reported (perhaps you have other facts about her swimming into boat traffic?). If the reported facts are correct and she was run down by her dive boat, I do believe mine is a legitimate question I ask. If a dive boat puts me in the water and then runs me down, yes I take issue with that, and I think someone should be asking questions so it doesn't happen again.

I wasn't trying to be snarky, sorry it came off that way. Like you I don't know all the details, but we're jumping to conclusions, and laying blame. But there is no way to ever prevent something from happening again, because we are human, and we're going to make mistakes. It's just like OOA situations, with the technology we have now there is no way it should happen, but it does, and most of the time it's human error. It would be nice to know where she was and where were the other swimmers?