No sign of missing diver, search resumes Monday

| 19/01/2014

(CNS) Updated: An air and sea search currently underway for a missing diver has so far proved unsuccessful and police from the Marine Unit said divers and local vessels will be welcome to assist when the search resumes Monday morning at 7am. The RCIPS Marine Unit, its air support as well as uniform officers and a number of local dive vessels began searching for the diver, who is visiting from the USA, following a report on Sunday morning that he had gone missing off Seven Mile Beach in the heart of Cayman’s tourist district. The man, who was taking part in an offshore dive, had surfaced with his buddy but did not make it back to the boat.

At around 10:20 this morning 911 received a call from the local dive company that the 57-year-old man visiting from the United States was missing. The boat captain and crew started the search when he failed to make it back but with no sign they reported the matter to the authorities.

A search and rescue effort was launched involving Marine Unit, the police helicopter, dive vessels and officers on shore but so far the diver remains missing.

Sergeant Richard Scott of the Marine Unit said efforts will continue at 7:00 am tomorrow if they are not successful this afternoon. Anyone who can assist with vessels or diving can contact him at 949-7710 or 325-8092 tomorrow morning if they wish to assist in the coordinated search.
 

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  1. Anonymous says:

    Divers looking for a dive vacation need to be warned about how the Government fails to take any proper steps to protect dive visitors and the very high rate of fatal accidents.

    • Retired PADI Instructor says:

      Why don't you check your facts before posting nonsense like this? The Cayman Islands are statistically a very safe place to dive and the sad reality is that the few fatalities that do occur rarely even involve diving-related issues. In fact most are the result of people diving with pre-existing medical conditions, which is their decision and nothing CIG can do anything about.

      I've dived and worked in some of most tightly regulated locations in the world, places where full medical exams (with ECGs for all over-40s) are compulory, and they still can't match the Cayman Islands' safety record.   

      • Anonymous says:

        If you compared the death per dive hours of Cayman to anywhere in Florida you would be disgusted.  And the same arguments about vacationers would apply in Florida too.

        • Retired PADI Instructor says:

          Not true. I was certified as an instructor in Ft Lauderdale and the demographics don't remotely compare.

          However, what I will concede here is that since Grand Cayman was at its peak as a dive destination in the mid-1990s fatalities have increased while the number of divers has steadily decreased. 

           

    • Anonymous says:

      What specific 'proper' step would you suggest the Government could have taken to protect a diver in this situation?

      • Anonymous says:

        Barring waiver clauses in contracts and proper licensing and record keeping.

        • Diogenes says:

          Waiver clauses that apply to evey properly organised adive shop anywhere in the world, and that are required as part of their affiliations with the training organisations (PADI, SSI, BSAC, IANTD…)?.  Blog on something you know about.  You cannot make an operator responsible for every fatality or accident that happnes, when the vast majority are the fault of the individual. 

          As for licensing and record keeping, don't disagree, but perhaps you could explain how that has any relationship to the loss of a diver who surfaces with his buddy, then fails to make it back to the boat, who then instigate an immmediatesearch? 

           

    • Anonymous says:

      What in the world are you talking about? The government issues trade and business licenses to all the dive operations. To obtain these licenses certain "proper steps to protect dive visitors" must be taken.

      Your comment regarding a "very high rate of fatal accidents" is based on what data? The data I've seen suggests a very low rate, especially when compared to other activities and other dive destinations around the world. 

      As others have noted, most diving accidents are not diving accidents at all but other issues that occur while diving. It's a chicken and egg questions isn't it? 

      If you have a heard attack while diving, is that a diving accident? Do they call it a golfing accident if you have a heart attack while driving the ball? 

      If you are sincerely worried about the safety of people in the Cayman Islands then perhaps you should launch a safe driving campaign because the number of driving accidents here is horrendous and clearly the government is doing nothing to take proper steps to protect people from the poor driving. 

  2. Anonymous says:

    I hope for the best.    When folks are only physically active a few weeks of the year, they can be overwhelmed.   I am initially from Canada and we see it all the time on skiing vacations.   Not that thus was the issue in this specific case but  it happens here occasionally.  

    But God bless.  It still is a rare event and one can never predict this.   Thanks to all the brave folks that helped with the search.   I know one of them and he searched for 7 hours.   

  3. Hummmm says:

    Would be nice to know where is the offshore site he dove, so more divers could assist 

    • Anonymous says:

      Anyone who can assist with vessels or diving can contact him at 949-7710 or 325-8092 tomorrow morning if they wish to assist in the coordinated search.
       

    • Anonymous says:

      Call the numbers in the article. I'm sure that a bunch of random people turning up and trying to help will be less helpful than a bunch of random people being integrated in to the organised search. (Much less the 'rubberneckers' that might come by if the site were named.)