MARSA ALAM, Egypt (18 Jan 2007) -- Beachsafari has denied responsibility for a scuba diving accident in which three tourists and an Egyptian dive guide went missing and apparently died after the German-owned dive resort lost contact with the divers. The divers disappeared on Saturday morning January 6 while scuba diving at Elphinstone Reef, a dive site renowned for shark encounters and strong currents. About 45 minutes after the dive group descended, the skipper of Beachsafari's dive boat started searching for the divers but failed to find them. According to Vladislav Lukyanchenko, a fifth diver in the group who survived by swimming ashore on Saturday night, the group resurfaced together after about 30 minutes and the dive guide deployed a surface marker buoy (SMB) to make it easier for their dive boat captain to find them. But the divers were caught in high waves and a strong current that was rapidly pushing them to the north away from the dive site and their dive boat. Meanwhile, the dive boat skipper, unable to find the missing divers, called for help and several boats joined the search for the missing divers. Lukyanchenko told authorities that throughout Saturday afternoon, he and the other divers could see the boats that were searching for them. After sunset, the lights of coastal villages were visible and Lukyanchenko decided to separate from the group and swim for shore. After swimming for nearly four hours, Lukyanchenko reached Badawia Resort, which is located some 15 kilometers from Elphinstone Reef. On Sunday morning, an Egyptian government helicopter joined the search but again no trace of the missing divers was found. At least 15 boats continued searching on Monday and Tuesday but the search was called off on Tuesday evening. Although Beachsafari, the Red Sea Association of Diving and Watersports and local authorities are blaming bad weather for the accident, many divers have expressed concerns about lax safety procedures and inadequate emergency preparedness among Red Sea day charter and liveaboard dive boat operators. In August 2004, a group of 12 divers went missing after departing on a liveaboard dive boat trip from Marsa Alam. The dive boat operator also blamed strong currents for that accident. | | Beachsafari dive boat "Scuba School". Lost diver search and rescue technology Although lost diver fatalities are increasing around the world, technology exists to substantially reduce risks associated with missing diver accidents. "EPIRB technology to locate missing divers is readily available and very affordable," said CDNN Dive Industry News Editor Lamar Bennington. "Considering the vast sums of money invested in million dollar dive boats and multi-million dollar coastal dive resorts, the failure of dive operators to spend a few thousand more on effective missing diver rescue systems--especially in areas like the Red Sea where strong currents are common--well, it verges on criminal negligence." "All it takes is one dive operator in each destination to adopt the technology and to integrate it into their promotion to force everyone else to get on the safe diver bandwagon," Bennington added. "If the self-regulated dive industry can't put our safety at the top of the list, it's time for divers to demand EPIRB diver rescue systems on all dive boats operating in areas subject to currents and high waves." © CDNN - CYBER DIVER NEWS NETWORKCDNN Related NewsEGYPT - Search called off as hopes fade for missing Red Sea diversEGYPT - Man dies after Red Sea scuba diving accidentEGYPT - Scuba instructor, dive guide among four divers missing in Red Sea |
