balinews

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The trial of the captain of a boat carrying seven Japanese women during a scuba diving accident in mid-February began Tuesday in Bali, during which the defendant was indicted for negligence.

The accident left two of the seven divers dead. The five others only suffered light injuries.

During a hearing session at a district court in the Bali provincial capital of Denpasar, government prosecutor Ni Nyoman Martini alleged that the captain, Agustinus Brata Kusuma, 30, changed his boat’s location without waiting for the divers to surface.

Based on the accounts of the five survivors, Martini said, the group surfaced after a 40-minute dive off the island of Nusa Lembongan, a tiny island near Bali, late in the afternoon of Feb. 14, but the boat was nowhere to be found.

“The defendant committed negligence, claiming someone else’s lives … and also causing others to be injured,” she said.

Unable to afford a lawyer, Agustinus appeared alone in court.

When the presiding judge asked if he had understood the content of the indictment, he only said: “I didn’t leave them while they were diving. I lost their traces, then tried to search for them, but I couldn’t find them.”


Captain of boat carrying Japanese in Bali diving accident goes on trial | The Japan Times
 

samsiam

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Feb 2, 2014
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Does this happen across the board in Bali...being held responsible no matter what...or is it just a case of poor bugger me ?
 

davita

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I heard some allegations that he left the dive site to get some fuel...but I suppose that will come into evidence.
This is considered a 'hearing session' to get such evidence and to see who should also be charged in the case.

I'm not a diver so would be interested to know how a boat captain is supposed to control his position to be 'on station' when the divers emerge and, what is he supposed to do if the divers are caught in an underwater current that drift them a distance from that position?
Doesn't the dive leader (or dive Co.) have some responsibility when conditions are reported that visibility is obscure and sea conditions choppy?
 

Joe Writeson

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Jul 30, 2013
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I heard some allegations that he left the dive site to get some fuel...but I suppose that will come into evidence.
This is considered a 'hearing session' to get such evidence and to see who should also be charged in the case.

I'm not a diver so would be interested to know how a boat captain is supposed to control his position to be 'on station' when the divers emerge and, what is he supposed to do if the divers are caught in an underwater current that drift them a distance from that position?
Doesn't the dive leader (or dive Co.) have some responsibility when conditions are reported that visibility is obscure and sea conditions choppy?

Gross negligence indicated by not having enough fuel onboard AND spare for emergencies, but any good Lead Diver would check things like that before committing his group to a dive anyway... so already two culpabilities ...
 

davita

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Gross negligence indicated by not having enough fuel onboard AND spare for emergencies, but any good Lead Diver would check things like that before committing his group to a dive anyway... so already two culpabilities ...

I read the Lead Diver was the Japanese lady washed up on shore 400km away in East Java.....and her Indonesian husband owns the dive shop.....but I'm not sure.

Agreed...there is blame to be shared! Early days to make a judgement call.
 

balibule

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Feb 6, 2009
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I'm not a diver so would be interested to know how a boat captain is supposed to control his position to be 'on station' when the divers emerge and, what is he supposed to do if the divers are caught in an underwater current that drift them a distance from that position?
Doesn't the dive leader (or dive Co.) have some responsibility when conditions are reported that visibility is obscure and sea conditions choppy?

A good captain will know what direction the current is going and will be able to anticipate where his guests will surface. Also, when there is a strong current, the boat should be following the bubble trail of the divers which is something you can see from the surface. The dive leader and captain usually agree how long a dive will be so they can somewhat expect when to pick-up guests.

Sometimes a freelance boat captain will stay on the mooring rather than spend fuel on following divers and making sure to keep track of them.

All divers should have an SMB (surface marker buoy) and a whistle or other signaling device for when they surface after a dive. Some divers have a little mirror that reflects sun. If in a strong current we sometimes take a reel that has a line to the surface with a buoy so the boat can see where the divers are. This is cumbersome though and rarely happens.

I think it is best to avoid freelance boats as the dive leader and boat captain will probably not know eachother. As a dive leader, when you get to dive daily with the same boat captain and crew, you get to know eachother and silly stuff like this could have been avoided.
 
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samsiam

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I like Davitas idea of some form of electronic warning/advising system linked to a dive watch with gps or such capabilities in addition to all of the above.....or something inhouse that could work simply between the boat and the divers once on the surface.....after all they should not be a huge range or distance away from each other over 40 minutes...so range of device could be small.

I am not an electronics genius or engineer.
 

ferdie

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It was a negligence in my opinion, not bringing extra gasoline is bad enough but then he left them to do a refill :confused:
 

davita

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It was a negligence in my opinion, not bringing extra gasoline is bad enough but then he left them to do a refill :confused:

So ferdie...do you know it was a fact he left to refill with gasoline, or just opining it would be negligent if it were factual?
 

Adam

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So ferdie...do you know it was a fact he left to refill with gasoline, or just opining it would be negligent if it were factual?

Davita, spot on.

As a commercial skipper, I can assure you that if this situation arose on my shift, unless there were really extenuating circumstances, I would not be wearing any responsibility, whatsoever. That being said, I operate under Aussie rules with an Aussie conscience, so I feel both the divemaster and the skipper hold a dual level of responsibility.

To put it simply, the skipper is responsible for what happens above the water, the divemaster below. The skipper should be competent, capable and confident enough that the vessel will leave port and return with no major events in between. The divemaster should be competent, capable and competent enough that the divers in their charge will complete their dive with no major events. The discrepancy, in Oz at least and one I take issue with is that to earn a Commercial skipper qualification is a whole heap more stringent that a divemasters qual which can just about be found in the bottom of a cereal box. Throw in the Indo 'she'll be right mate' and largely unregulated factor and you are dealing with one big clusterf**k that has me questioning why anyone in their right mind would jump off many Indonesian dive boats, let alone board them in the first place.

Sad lesson learnt, hopefully. I know as skipper myself, I hate seeing people jump off a perfectly good boat and have often had heart palpitations chasing them down later.
 

gilbert de jong

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Jan 20, 2009
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Panji, Singaraja.
Becoming a DM (Dive Master) is not as easy as it may seem, or as cheap as buying a box of cereal :icon_smile:
Before one can begin with the training/course to become a DM, one must have a minimum of 40 logged dives and have completed their Open Water, Advanced Open Water, Emergency First Responder and Rescue Diver courses. a DM is allowed to guide certified divers and assist instructors on/with courses.
I doubt that a DM can be held responsible or can be charged with negligence..
 

Adam

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gilbert de jong;94697 I doubt that a DM can be held responsible or can be charged with negligence..[/QUOTE said:
Depends on relevant local legislation.

In this regard I'm sure things are probably very sketchy in Indo. Trust me, DM quals are small potatoes compared to Skippering quals, though again, not sure what specifically applies (or what compliance occurs) in Indo. Little is my guess.
 

ferdie

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So ferdie...do you know it was a fact he left to refill with gasoline, or just opining it would be negligent if it were factual?

If the story that he left them for gasoline was factual, it is definitely negligence
Its the same like having an airplane loaded only to reach its destination without spare if somehow the airport (maybe CGK :icon_wink: ) wass busy and the airplane have to circle around for more than half an hour and Kabooom :grumpy:
 

samsiam

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I can see where both need to be responsible and competent obviously....but, if divers come to the top and the boat is not there....well, kinda beyond the divemasters control I would think.....

In the situation in Oz where divers were left behind...whom was deemed responsible...the DM or the Skipper ?
 

Joe Writeson

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Becoming a DM (Dive Master) is not as easy as it may seem, or as cheap as buying a box of cereal :icon_smile:
Before one can begin with the training/course to become a DM, one must have a minimum of 40 logged dives and have completed their Open Water, Advanced Open Water, Emergency First Responder and Rescue Diver courses. a DM is allowed to guide certified divers and assist instructors on/with courses.
I doubt that a DM can be held responsible or can be charged with negligence..

Location location location ... Bert de Bong is correct, DM's certification is not easy to come by in the likes of Oz, most of Europe and the US, but as stated, elsewhere The Kellog's Mexican Dive Master Certificate is available with your cereal.

... and just to really get Davita going, there is still a place in Mumbai where you can get an immaculate Commercial Pilot's License for under USD1k ... without EVER leaving the ground...think about THAT one next time a plane goes missing!
 
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davita

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... and just to really get Davita going, there is still a place in Mumbai where you can get an immaculate Commercial Pilot's License for under USD1k ... without EVER leaving the ground...think about THAT one next time a plane goes missing!

I've been to 'Bombay' many times and the MO was to leave our passports (usually with licence attached and a bottle of Scotch from the A/C bar) with Immigration at the airport when we went down town. It's true...they had a wooden box at the crew station in Immigration with a sign of a bootle of booze. We stayed at that hotel which the Pakistani guy bombed/shot-up a few years back.
That's probably why, today, some pilots may be using my fake/copy passport/licence to fly for crappy airlines. How they get away with the passport pic looking so unbelievably handsome and smart... when the DOB is 1937.....alludes me!!!

btw a Commercial Pilots licence is not good enough...civil aviation requires an Airline Transport Pilots Licence (ATPL)......much more difficult to achieve but probably just as easily faked.
Also btw...if you think that MH370 was flown by a pilot who wasn't qualified let me say that, according to the info that the A/C flew the route suggested, that would require piloting skill!

The 9/11 terrorists did flying training in Florida before committing their henious act....pity the flying instructor...he was too good at his job. Mind you, they didn't do a perfect landing...did they! Any crap pilot can fly into a building...aint difficult!
 

Joe Writeson

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I hear you Davita ....flying is not the problem ... its the bits at the beginning and end that take some learning...

Re Mumbai..it was still Bombay then and we were over from the Emirates to pick up a dive support vessel, part of the cargo on the way back was an Alouette lll on the helideck, the pilot and his mechie were French and total pissheads. The pilot discovered his docs were not in order to offload the copter in Abu Dhabi and nipped downtown to pick up a 'new' set. We were on just about our last shore run and out of curiosity a group of us accompanied him ... hence I ended up with a UK HGV License...
 

balibule

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Feb 6, 2009
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Bert de Bong is correct, DM's certification is not easy to come by in the likes of Oz, most of Europe and the US, but as stated, elsewhere The Kellog's Mexican Dive Master Certificate is available with your cereal.

A divemaster course is identical where ever you take it and is as hard or easy to do here as it is overseas.