COCOS ISLAND, Costa Rica (2 June 2003) -- Company negligence or human error? Both were cited this week to explain the tragic May 16 disappearance of U.S. diver Bruce Rubin, 56, and Brazilian Israel Ostrowiecki, 55. The two are presumed dead after failing to surface from a dive at the remote Cocos Island, some 530 kilometers (300 miles) southwest of Costa Rica's Pacific coast. As details slowly emerge about what went wrong that Friday morning, the war of words over who is to blame intensified. Wayne Hasson, founder of the Louisiana-based Aggressor Fleet, blamed the men's disappearance on "human error." "You can't blame anybody except the people who didn't come up. They're to blame," Hasson told The Tico Times, saying his conclusions are based on crew reports and interviews with passengers. He declined to share copies of witnesses' statements with The Tico Times. A total of 19 passengers paid some $3,000 each to embark on a 10-day jaunt aboard the 110-foot Okeanos Aggressor, a refurbished live-aboard yacht, to the rugged uninhabited island. Cocos, a national park and Costa Rica's legendary "Treasure Island," is a popular, yet difficult, dive site well-known on the world diving circuit. Ostrowiecki and Rubin were part of a group of nine divers on their second dive of the day at the island's southwest "Pequeño Dos Amigos" site. They were discovered missing at the conclusion of the dive, which lasted just under an hour, according to Hasson. The Okeanos is a Costa Rican-owned and operated franchise of the Louisiana-based company, and Hasson was quick to point out that "We don't own or operate the vessel. I can only speculate as to what happened." Spokesmen for the Costa Rican company, including operations chief José Pastora and owner Randall Martínez, did not return numerous phone messages left by The Tico Times. Speaking by phone from Sao Paulo, Brazil, Ostrowiecki's 24-year-old son Alexandre portrayed a markedly different version of what happened that day. Citing what he claims were reports by eyewitnesses, he blames the company for contributing to his father's death. Among the younger Ostrowiecki's allegations are: failure to utilize the "dive buddy" system of diving in pairs; failure of 29-year-old dive master Randy Wright to check the water for currents before the dive; lack of fuel on the dive skiff to search for the missing divers; lack of spare air tanks on board the skiff to conduct follow-up search dives; and lack of a radio on board the skiff to call for help once the divers' absence was noted. "They were diving in a dangerous place with unpredictable currents and tides," Ostrowiecki said. "They most likely became lost and separated." Hasson insisted both were supposed to be diving with buddies. "Both of these guys were assigned buddies," he said. Rubin's dive buddy was his 19-year-old daughter Lilith, whom Hasson also blamed for her father's disappearance. "The last people on the boat were Bruce and Lily (Rubin). I've confirmed this," he said. According to Hasson, Lily entered the water and never waited for her father. "She never even looked back," he said. "She went down to join the others." Citing legal concerns, Rubin's family declined to comment this week. | | Hasson speculated that once underwater, Rubin teamed up with the nearest person – Ostrowiecki. Perhaps attracted "by a whale shark" or other marine life, the two divers may have drifted far from the boat and then run into trouble, Hasson said. According to Hasson, the skiff did have a radio, which was immediately used to initiate the company's lost diver protocol. He also said keeping extra dive tanks on board the smaller skiff is not common practice and would not have helped. Hasson – an experienced diver – also refused to blame Wright, who had worked aboard the Okeanos for nine months and had prior experience as a dive master in other locations. "When people get in the water, the dive master's job is done – they're not a guide supposed to take care of everybody," Hasson said. "He has no responsibility underwater." Wright, reportedly deeply upset by the tragedy, has since returned to the U.S. and was unavailable for comment. Confronted with Hasson's statements, an angry but calm Alexandre Ostrowiecki said: "(Hasson) wants to save his ass. His conclusions contradict eyewitness accounts." "My father and Bruce got lost separately. The dive was chaotic, with people popping up everywhere. At one point, there was not enough fuel to look for the two divers, and critical minutes were wasted. If they had the proper rescue equipment, it's possible that none of this would have happened." A second witness, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed that lack of fuel hindered search efforts immediately following the dive. Ostrowiecki believes strong currents of up to 5 knots per hour may have swept his father and Rubin well out of sight of the dive boat. Hasson believes currents were less swift, at 3 knots per hour, and were not the cause of the accident. In fact, the only thing both men agree on is the Coast Guard's discovery of Rubin's air tank some 28 miles from the dive site, and at least one of two inflatable locator devices, known as "sausages." Once the Coast Guard became involved, it is unclear why the Okeanos, with Rubin's daughter Lilith aboard, did not immediately return to port in Puntarenas until more than 140 hours later – the last day of the original trip itinerary. Last week Okeanos Chief of Operations José Pastora told The Tico Times that the Okeanos had remained anchored off Cocos Island because it was helping in the search. "They said they were there to help in search efforts, but they stayed on a more tranquil part of the island and kept diving," said Alexandre Ostrowiecki. "How could they keep diving while two men, one of them Lily's father, were missing?". Simple, says Hasson. "If your father were missing, wouldn't you stay?" "The girl (Lily) could've ended it right then, but she didn't because she had high hopes," Hasson said. According to Hasson, the Okeanos' crew – hard-hit by the tragedy – were "in mourning," and in need of "psychological help." The Okeanos sailed Wednesday for another trip to Cocos. SOURCE - Tico Times |
