Live Aboard Capsizes

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Zeagle Eagle

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KOROR, Palau (Island Times, Aug. 6, 2015) – One of the liveaboards plying the waters of Palau capsized and sank in shallow waters near one of the most popular tourists destinations in this island nation.


Koror State Government (KSG) Chief Administrative Officer Earnest Ongidobel said the "Palau Siren" sprung a leak around 9:00 AM of Monday, August 3, 2014 and capsized and sank in shallow waters of the Wonder Channel 12 hours later.


Wonder Channel leads up to Jellyfish Lake, one of the most popular tourist sites in Palau.


"There was a leak that eventually worsened and caused for the boat to sink," he stated.


According to other sources, the boat was carrying 13 crew members and customers when it experienced trouble due to very strong waves and rough seas in the area.


The same sources said that half of the customers were reportedly diving at sea when the mishap occurred. The passengers and crew evacuated to a smaller boat (skiff) and were rescued a few hours later.


There was no death or injury reported from the accident.


Ongidobel said people from the Koror State Government responded to the scene and made sure there was no oil leakage that could harm the environment nearby.
Fortunately, no one got hurt and no oil spill was reported so far," he stated.


Ongidobel said Koror State and the Environmental Quality Protection Board are monitoring the ship and the area where it went down to prevent or minimize any oil spill. He said they are helped by an engineer flown in by Sam’s Tours.


According to Ongidobel, the boat is currently stuck in the channel and that they are working with Surangel to salvage the vessel when the weather clears.


"As of now, bad weather hampers any attempt to salvage the vessel," he pointed out.


As part of the Siren fleet, the Palau Siren, launched in 2012, was built by the team of master yacht builders of Worldwide Dive and Sail on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.


She is a 130 ft/40 m long, traditional gaff rig Phinisi handcrafted from ironwood and teak. The vessel is decorated internally with Palauan art.


The Palau Siren can accommodate up to 16 passengers, in eight air-conditioned cabins, with either twin or double beds. All cabins have their own personal audio-visual entertainment system, bathrooms with hot water through a central heating system, a wardrobe for clothing and personal items, an in-cupboard safety box and a hairdryer.


Island Times

 
2015 is certainly NOT a good yr for the operator. First in Truk and now this happened.
 
2015 is certainly NOT a good yr for the operator. First in Truk and now this happened.


Actually the Siren Fleet has not had the best of luck in the past three years as they also lost the Oriental and Mandarin Siren in 2012. That said, it is my understanding that the operators took very good care of their clients. Much much better than another well know live-a-board operation that shall remain unnamed.
 
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They've suffered losses of 3 liveaboards in 3 years; how will they ever get insurance?!
 
Reminds me of a joke.

There's three dive instructors on this boat...
 
Easy by the way they treat them when crap hits the fan. See my comment above.


So, despite the fact that they lost three ships in three years, all is OK since they treat the customers well after their boat was sunk! Did I fall off the earth and wind up on a new planet? Since when is that kind of safety record even remotely satisfactory?
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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