Miami Beach charter leaves divers in open waters off Key Biscayne

[DandyDon]

Sorry Blades, but even if the divers did everything wrong - the skipper should know exactly which divers went in, which came back, and not leave without them.

 

[DennisS]

I wonder what responsibility the divers have and hope I don't get too much criticism from my question. I understand that the CAPTAIN of the boat has the ultimate responsibility but there is another side to the coin.

Did the divers listen to the dive briefing before the dive? Did they stick with the group? Did they stay in the area they were told to stay in? Did they return to the surface at the time designated during the pre-dive briefing? If the divers are not responsible enough to follow the safety instructions given by the captain and crew, is the captain and crew still responsible for their safety?

This is a rhetorical question and not based specifically on this incident. I do not know any details other than those reported by the press but I wonder if there aren't extenuating circumstances that may deflect blame from the crew.

The divers had a red sausage and were on the surface when the other boat picked them up. If they did not return to the surface at the designated time, it is not a reason for the boat to leave them at sea, it is a reason to kick it up a notch. Did anyone see them on the bottom, get up on the tower with the binoculars, get ready to call other boats in the area, decide when to call the USCG. The captain and crew took them out, they are responsible for bringing them back. If they can't find them it is time to institute a search, not return to the dock. Plain and simple, the captain screwed up and left two paying passengers out in the ocean.

 

[Mortis65]

I wonder what responsibility the divers have and hope I don't get too much criticism from my question. I understand that the CAPTAIN of the boat has the ultimate responsibility but there is another side to the coin.

Did the divers listen to the dive briefing before the dive? Did they stick with the group? Did they stay in the area they were told to stay in? Did they return to the surface at the time designated during the pre-dive briefing? If the divers are not responsible enough to follow the safety instructions given by the captain and crew, is the captain and crew still responsible for their safety?

This is a rhetorical question and not based specifically on this incident. I do not know any details other than those reported by the press but I wonder if there aren't extenuating circumstances that may deflect blame from the crew.

I think that is a good question, but a diver below who has not returned by the time the captain has designated in the dive briefing is either doing one of two things, ignoring the briefing, or experiencing an emergency.

If the diver is out of the designated dive area, were they caught in current and experiencing and emergency, or again ignoring a dive briefing.

Either way, the surface team are the designated rescuers. I don't know from this article if the divers were in the wrong/right place, and I don't know if they were unaccounted for post-dive, and just ignored.

I've seen divers do everything right, and surface on the tag line in high current, only to be kicked off the line by another diver. The good news is there was another boat down current that they were able to swim to. As divers we can do everything right, and still need surface support. I've been lucky, and the surface support has always been there. I'm dread to think about what will happen when they are not.

 

[deepstops]

I have dove and will continue to dive with this operation frequently.

They *always* perform a roll call. I repeat *always*.

My question is: who on the boat answered "here" when their names were called.

 

[DandyDon]

I have dove and will continue to dive with this operation frequently.

They *always* perform a roll call. I repeat *always*.

My question is: who on the boat answered "here" when their names were called.

Which illustrates why I don't like roll calls. Like I said above...

Roll calls help but fail. DAN offered a DAN tag system but Ops wouldn't use it.

When I dived the Flower Gardens, the skipper met me at the ladder after ever dive himself to mark me off after talking to me.

 

[Splitlip]

It's always possible the two were added late and did not make it to the roster. Ater roll call before the the boat leaves the dock there is the all important "Is there anybody who's name I did not call?" I've been on boats where people have boarded without checking in. After check in (waivers and C-card) the final rosters are given to the captains.

 

[BladesRobinson]

Sorry Blades, but even if the divers did everything wrong - the skipper should know exactly which divers went in, which came back, and not leave without them.

I will just point out what I acknowledged in my original post...

"I understand that the CAPTAIN of the boat has the ultimate responsibility ..."

I am not making excuses for the captain and the divers should not have been left in the water.

With courage, I asked a rhetorical question. What obligations do divers have to assure their own safety as it relates to paying attention to the pre-dive briefings? How many boats have you been on where the boat captain or dive master is giving a briefing and divers are chatting among themselves, digging in their gear bags or setting up their equipment ... and paying zero attention to what they are being told.

Like many have stated previously, they are responsible and work to assure their own safety, going so far as to carry cell phones, GPS devices and VHF radios. Certainly paying attention to the pre-dive briefing is part of that equation. I wonder if the two guys left behind paid attention, followed instructions, stayed with the group, followed the divemaster, etc ... or if they just went off on their own and assumed that a red safety sausage would fix their problem.

Again, please know I am not defending the captain and I am not blaming the divers.

My questions are rhetorical only and I bring the subject up for discussion; so we can learn.

 

[Tigerman]

Sorry Blades, but even if the divers did everything wrong - the skipper should know exactly which divers went in, which came back, and not leave without them.

And on that topic.. Counting heads is a SERIOUSLY bad way of making sure you have everyone. Out of the possible scenarios doing that the best is two boats take wrong divers with them, worst case - well, this topic derived from that..

 

[c0r3yz]

I wonder what responsibility the divers have and hope I don't get too much criticism from my question. I understand that the CAPTAIN of the boat has the ultimate responsibility but there is another side to the coin.

Did the divers listen to the dive briefing before the dive? Did they stick with the group? Did they stay in the area they were told to stay in? Did they return to the surface at the time designated during the pre-dive briefing? If the divers are not responsible enough to follow the safety instructions given by the captain and crew, is the captain and crew still responsible for their safety?

This is a rhetorical question and not based specifically on this incident. I do not know any details other than those reported by the press but I wonder if there aren't extenuating circumstances that may deflect blame from the crew.

For what it's worth, the article quotes that they paid for two one hour dives. They surfaced 55 minutes into the second dive to find that the boat was gone. What kind of blame can be put on the divers based on this information?

 

[Scott L]

A head count would seem the preferred method. I would be interested in Wookie's input on this subject...