Sri Lanka Aggressor Problems

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Be sure your trip insurance is paid up in full.

Yeah, that's what they keep telling us to do: buy trip insurance. But in my mind trip insurance is to cover unexpected things on the traveler's end like an illness, family emergency, missing a connecting flight, etc. - being asked to buy insurance to cover a known fundamental structural flaw with the vessel itself... that seems more like something that should insured by the operator themselves, since it's an issue completely on their end and something that is already known at this point. Shifting the cost and risk of the outcome to the guests doesn't seem to be the ethical way to go about it, imho.
 
I wouldn't be too happy arriving for a dive trip to be told I am now doing a tour of the countryside as I don't usually pack for that scenario.

I am glad that my HMS Hermes dive trips are booked through another company
 
It sounds and feels like the Sri Lanka Aggressor is a complete disaster at the moment! People being given a land tour, sorting out other dive operators on the fly to salvage parts of their trip... these are not things I want to be a part of and the travel agency we booked through is not letting us cancel for a refund. I am seriously considering just eating the $4,000 plus my flights and just moving on with my life. What an ordeal.
Your ordeal remind me a similar incidence in Indonesia reported in SB recently.
BTW, where is the Aggressor fleet parent company based in? If it is in USA then you could be in luck.
Check the small print of your travel insurance if you have one. I always make sure I was insured whenever I have to pay deposit for any travelling. However, the cancellation part is always the grey area in which unscrupulous operator tends to exploit it fully!

Good luck.
 
Interesting article, Sri Lanka is still underdeveloped as a dive destination, and while their plans will be great for the local economy I'd hate to see diving ruined there with overdevelopment.

As for the Aggressor plans, well if you are first on the block you are going to face a lot of issues that were unknown, perhaps they should have done their homework better for obtaining local crew with the right qualifications and reading up about their local laws regarding what qualifications are required by the Sri Lankan Merchant Shipping Secretariat before taking their boat into these waters.
 
Yeah, that's what they keep telling us to do: buy trip insurance. But in my mind trip insurance is to cover unexpected things on the traveler's end like an illness, family emergency, missing a connecting flight, etc. - being asked to buy insurance to cover a known fundamental structural flaw with the vessel itself... that seems more like something that should insured by the operator themselves, since it's an issue completely on their end and something that is already known at this point. Shifting the cost and risk of the outcome to the guests doesn't seem to be the ethical way to go about it, imho.
I hear you. But what trip insurance is for is to protect YOU from unforseen circumstances that happen to YOU. What is unforseen? Acts of God like a storm or tsunami, or insurrction in other countries, or the boat not being ready. Believe me. I've been a liveaboard operator and owner for 20 years. I've supported plenty of insurance claims by my clients who claimed when weather or other circumstances got in the way of their diving. If the trip doesn't go as the brochure says it should, you want an advocate on your side to ensure that you are made whole. Buy the trip insurance.
 
Calvin,

Get the insurance. That way when there's a problem it's not you caught in the middle between the boat owner, the investors and the Aggressor mgmt. In the past I've seen Aggressor try to push any problem responsibilities back onto the boat owner yet you don't read that on their website when booking with them.

Also search this or the liveaboards frorum back a few years. Or Thumbs Down.

There's been start-up problems with their Bahamas boat - gross stuff like toilets overflowing, the Red Sea boat didn't even sail for the first 6 or so trips - they chartered another Egypt-based boat - and when it did either the first or 2nd week the captain put it on the reef and had to be towed off - shortening the trip by one whole day plus. And wasn't there a problem with one of their Galapagos boats a few years ago. Engine failure? I don't remember the details.

Wayne's (Aggressor President) standard response seems to be a $500 credit on a future trip.

Buy the Insurance...
 
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BTW, where is the Aggressor fleet parent company based in? If it is in USA then you could be in luck.
Corporate Office
WayneWorks Marine, LLC
dba Aggressor Fleet
209 Hudson Trace
Augusta, GA 30907 USA
Tel: +1-706-993-2531
Toll Free: 800-348-2628
info@aggressor.com
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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