FUJAIRAH, UAE (24 June 2007) -- A group of divers on a scuba expedition in Dibba, Fujairah, were left reeling yesterday after surfacing from a 30-metre wreck-dive to discover their boat had left without them. The four men had spent around 20 minutes underwater at the popular but strong surface-current area Inchcape 1 yesterday morning, where Inchcape Shipping sunk a boat in 2001 to create a dive site. But when they resurfaced they discovered The Palm Dive Centre's boat had gone, leaving them and their dive master stranded in the open waters. One of the divers, James Evan Sumagaysay, 30, told reporters: "We were waiting for around 20 minutes in the water but there was no sign of our boat. You can't just leave a diver floating in the water for that long, especially not when they are on a drop that big and in a strong surface-current area. It's dangerous. Anything could have happened." Luckily for the divers, another group were also at the site and, after waiting with the stranded divers for around 20 minutes in the hope their boat would reappear, they took them aboard and headed back toward shore. Ten minutes later, they spotted the divers' boat, which was heading back to collect them, and after flagging it down the divers switched boats again. Sumagaysay said: "The boat master gave us some reason, saying someone had agreed to collect us and he did apologise, but we could have been waiting in the sea for more than half-an-hour." According to one experienced diving instructor in the UAE, PADI guidelines state the dive boat, which should carry life-saving oxygen as well as first aid supplies in the case of a medical problem, should never be too far away from the divers. He told reporters: "You have to stay close. If divers are in open sea and there's a strong current, in 20 minutes they could be swept a kilometre out. "I would hate people to think dive centres in the UAE are cavalier in their instructing." | | In 1998, Tom and Eileen Lonergan died while scuba diving in Australia after a dive boat left them behind. The Palm Dive Centre was unavailable for comment yesterday. In 1998, the case of Tom and Eileen Lonergan, who disappeared off the Great Barrier Reef after they were accidentally left behind in shark-infested waters, shocked the world and led to the making of the film 'Open Water'. SOURCE - 7DaysSCUBA FORUMDISCUSS THIS TOPIC - Dive in and have your say at Scuba Forum |
