CAIRNS, Australia (7 Feb 2009) — Police today will interview two American tourists who disappeared while scuba diving off Mike Ball's Spoilsport liveaboard dive boat. The divers apparently got caught in a current and were swept away from the Spoilsport dive boat. The crew were unaware of the divers were in trouble and did not react until they did a head count about one hour after the divers entered the ocean and started their dive. A massive search that involved four helicopters, a plane and a Coastguard boat finally located the missing divers seven hours after they went missing and just before dark. Mike Ball and local dive tourism promoter Col McKenzie told reporters they did everything right and the missing divers did everything wrong. They claimed the divers failed to follow the dive plan and should be held accountable for their own stupidity and all of the trouble they caused. Controversial dive operator The Spoilsport liveaboard dive boat is owned and operated by controversial Australian businessman Mike Ball of Mike Ball Dive Expeditions. Ball was forced to stop two-tier pricing that discriminated against Americans and Japanese with 20% to 40% higher fees after CDNN exposed the scam in 2001. In 2003, the company was in the news again after a fatal accident that killed American Tina Watson on her honeymoon while she was scuba diving off the Spoilsport with her husband, Gabe. Initial reports indicated Watson's death stemmed from Ball's failure to adhere to dive industry guidelines that restrict novice divers to specified depth limits. Subsequently, Watson's husband, Gabe, came under suspicion after inconsistencies in the information he gave to police about the accident. Australian authorities now believe Gabe killed his wife and are trying to extradite him to Australia for trial on murder charges. | 
