Fiji Siren - Lost at Sea

[Dogbowl]

Although this is somehow overlooked in all the tourist brochures, in much of the Third World the locals are insanely jealous and hateful towards the 'rich' tourists, and this raw hatred/contempt is barely contained beneath the surface, all it takes is a momentary breakdown of law-and-order to release the savages with blood lust in their eyes......tourists are nothing to them but a paycheck, there is no love lost here whatsoever. You see into their souls, what the 'locals' REALLY think of us (rich tourists) once the paper thin veneer of civilization is, even momentarily, stripped away!

REALLY?

I disagree with that. Period. Those are strong words. Not to mention an over-generalization.

It must really suck to hold such a negative world-view. Don't get me wrong. I don't wear rose-coloured glasses either.

 

[BoltSnap]

Although this is somehow overlooked in all the tourist brochures, in much of the Third World the locals are insanely jealous and hateful towards the 'rich' tourists, and this raw hatred/contempt is barely contained beneath the surface, all it takes is a momentary breakdown of law-and-order to release the savages with blood lust in their eyes......tourists are nothing to them but a paycheck, there is no love lost here whatsoever. You see into their souls, what the 'locals' REALLY think of us (rich tourists) once the paper thin veneer of civilization is, even momentarily, stripped away!

Yeah, let's kill them all before they kill us!! The world hates us and we are better than the world!!! All are out to get us, let's do it to them before they do it to us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lol, This got to be the most ignorant and infantile statement I have read on SB in all of the years I have been on SB.

 

[Hotpocket]

Although this is somehow overlooked in all the tourist brochures, in much of the Third World the locals are insanely jealous and hateful towards the 'rich' tourists, and this raw hatred/contempt is barely contained beneath the surface, all it takes is a momentary breakdown of law-and-order to release the savages with blood lust in their eyes......tourists are nothing to them but a paycheck, there is no love lost here whatsoever. You see into their souls, what the 'locals' REALLY think of us (rich tourists) once the paper thin veneer of civilization is, even momentarily, stripped away!

That's very scary, if true. I have never seen or experienced any of this "beneath the surface seething hatred" from any of the locals in the numerous dive destinations I've visited. Nope, nothing more than friendly curiousity and gratitude for me spending my tourist dollars.

 

[Scott from LongIsland]

Technically, the above is correct. The Palau Siren ran aground, was repaired, and returned to service. Their first boat the Siren which was hit by a large ship, I believe was also repaired and returned to service (I have tried to find details on this incident but can not). So while serious incidents the vessels were not lost.

FWIW, while the Siren Fleet has had multiple incidents as a company they have taken care of the clients when Davy Jones came a calling. This is quite different than the Aggressor/Dancer Fleet which has consistently left their clients figuratively adrift or worse.

Disclaimer I was on the Indo Siren this summer and would utilize them over any vessel that is part of the Aggressor/Dancer Fleet.

Aside from getting the passengers home, what did Siren do that was so great? Set them up in an abandoned resort to sleep for the night? I am curious what you are referring to. Please elaborate as I am hoping that i am missing something to me it seems like they did the bare minimum, they got the passengers off the boat and returned to their original locale

 

[ChrisM]

The job of the crew of any ship in distress is getting the passengers off safely. I was on the T&C Aggressor when it was run onto the reef by Capt. Piers on the way back to port, and we had to abandon ship. They deposited us on shore, and left us at the bar with a tab (their first mistake), which was soon shut off.... Wet and cold but buzzed. Rising tide raised the boat and we were able to secure our gear, but a fried had plans to leave early, and was taken to the airport with a stop at the local walmart type establishment to buy some sweats for the plane ride back to Canada. Luckily she had taken her passport (none of us did). After the fact, Aggressor tried to charge her to ship he gear back to Canada (didn't go over well). We got no other accommodation but to be honest I wasn't expecting anything.

Other than Wavedancer (a huge exception obviously) not aware of any liveaboard that didn't get pax off safely it's how they treat them afterwards. Not sure how the Siren folks got treated but sounds like they took care of the basic (getting to dry land). I assume they assisted with travel home and other logistics, but no knowledge of that.

As for the local comment above, my understanding from my research into trips in the area are that the Chukese are not as "welcoming" as other islands in FSM, i.e. the Yapese are very happy to have tourists from my experience, and that limiting one's time on Chuuk proper is probably wise. That's all second hand however as I have not been to that island. Even if true as tho Chuuk (or not) certainly hasn't been my experience in third world countries.

 

[flyboy08]

Although this is somehow overlooked in all the tourist brochures, in much of the Third World the locals are insanely jealous and hateful towards the 'rich' tourists, and this raw hatred/contempt is barely contained beneath the surface, all it takes is a momentary breakdown of law-and-order to release the savages with blood lust in their eyes......tourists are nothing to them but a paycheck, there is no love lost here whatsoever. You see into their souls, what the 'locals' REALLY think of us (rich tourists) once the paper thin veneer of civilization is, even momentarily, stripped away!

Holy chit Batman! It's obvious you have yet to travel the world.....lol!

 

[Scared Silly]

Aside from getting the passengers home, what did Siren do that was so great? Set them up in an abandoned resort to sleep for the night? I am curious what you are referring to. Please elaborate as I am hoping that i am missing something to me it seems like they did the bare minimum, they got the passengers off the boat and returned to their original locale

The Siren Fleet has paid to repatriate people ahead of their normal flights, paid to replace their lost gear, etc.

Compare that to the Aggressor Fleet where after running aground (Galapagos) but not sinking people had their property stolen even with the captain still on board! Never mind offering to replace it. Read this post #123 from someone who was on the boat.

 

[Dogbowl]

Aside from getting the passengers home, what did Siren do that was so great? Set them up in an abandoned resort to sleep for the night? I am curious what you are referring to. Please elaborate as I am hoping that i am missing something to me it seems like they did the bare minimum, they got the passengers off the boat and returned to their original locale

I'll try to answer this with some examples but I've read so many sources (undercurrent, FB, fleet websites, posts, etc) that I really don't recall where I read what.

I've read that Siren Fleet owners flew to the location of the stricken ship to assist the victims after a sinking. Siren ownership is quite transparent about what happened, posting updates on FB, etc. whereas its radio silent from the Aggressor Fleet. Zip, nada. In fact, Siren Fleet has a permanent webpage describing their lost ships, although some would argue whether it was accurate.

Aggressor would issue victims of sinking demeaning vouchers ($200-500) for a future trip that expires in one year. On at least one occasion, a voucher was revoked because the lady got her insurance to cover her losses.

The list goes on. If I have the time, I might actually write a compare and contrast of how the 2 fleets dealt with their "incidents". It really is night and day - at least that's how I felt after reading everything. I also got the impression that there were many more incidents regarding the Aggressor Fleet that we are unaware of.

 

[chillyinCanada]

IMNSHO, the Wayne's have checked out of the business side and are only on the revenue side. They've lost their passion.

I've only been on one Aggressor and it was a disappointment to me. It wasn't disappointing enough to judge all the fleet but knowing that the owners of Aggressor the company abdicate on individual boat issues has made me more than hesitant. Too bad there isn't an Explorer everywhere.

 

[Dogbowl]

IMNSHO, the Wayne's have checked out of the business side and are only on the revenue side. They've lost their passion.

I've only been on one Aggressor and it was a disappointment to me. It wasn't disappointing enough to judge all the fleet but knowing that the owners of Aggressor the company abdicate on individual boat issues has made me more than hesitant. Too bad there isn't an Explorer everywhere.

I agree. I don’t know what they’re thinking in this day of social media. They don’t even “pretend” to care. But their brand is still strong with Americans/North Americans around the world. Just look at the Red Sea Aggressor. They can charge more due to their brand name and because they are “trusted” by North Americans. In fact, they’re adding a second Aggressor in the Red Sea next year, despite other operations having to go out of business.

I have no skin in the game but I’m a thinking person and that’s what I’ve observed.