The Call for Regulation of Liveaboards

People wonder how the Russians are allowed to move millions of gallons of crude oil around the world in its shadow fleet of obsolete single-skinned oil tankers, beating sanctions and risking ecological disasters. The truth is that the high seas are unregulated, and often, these and other Russian-operated vessels, including warships, turn off their automatic position indicating (AIS Marine Traffic) transmitters, risking collisions at sea to remain covert.

What does this have to do with diving? Well, the plethora of liveaboard fires, capsizes, and groundings, some with fatalities, has given rise to calls for regulation. But who or what has the authority to regulate?

The United States Coast Guard has authority within its limited sphere of influence. Still, even after the unnecessary loss of 34 lives with the Conception disaster in Californian waters, there are those (including DEMA) that campaign against further regulation since it would increase costs. It seems profit takes precedence over human life. Years ago, when the Sundancer liveaboard was deemed unseaworthy in Palau (a territory under U.S. Coast Guard jurisdiction), the owners moved it to another territory in the Pacific, and moved the Sundancer II to Palau.

And so it is the case in less developed countries. In Egypt, where disasters appear almost weekly, and farther east to Indonesia and beyond, financial profit comes from doing things more cheaply.

After several British subjects died in an Egyptian Sea Story liveaboard disaster recently (Undercurrent January), the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) of the UK government was prompted to issue a warning:

"Dangerous modifications, defective or missing safety equipment, blocked escape routes and skipped briefings -- these were recurring issues identified among 16 incidents involving Red Sea dive-boats that have resulted in numerous deaths, including those of UK nationals, over the past five years."

Among the key safety issues identified is that boats were poorly constructed and often substantially modified or extended, at times to carry more passengers, causing some to become unstable.

The MAIB said essential life-saving equipment was defective, out-of-date for service, and, in some cases, missing. Where fires had broken out, their rapid spread indicated poor structural fire protection, compounded by defective or missing fire-detection systems and extinguishers.

Seasoned sailors are amazed that few of these vessels are equipped with basic navigation aids such as radar or a marine radio 16. The capsized Sea Story merely had a basic jury-rigged GPS.

The British Chief Inspector of Marine Accidents, Andrew Moll, said, "The MAIB is aware of 16 accidents over the last five years involving liveaboard dive vessels operating in the Red Sea. It is deeply regrettable that a number of these accidents have resulted in the loss of life, and our thoughts are with all those affected.

"While MAIB has no authority to investigate accidents involving non-UK-flagged vessels operating within the territorial waters of another coastal state, we have made the appropriate authorities aware of our national interest and offered every assistance with any safety investigation.

". . . It is important to remember that such vessels are unlikely to be built, maintained, equipped, and operated to the standard of similar vessels in the UK, and we urge the exercise of extreme caution when choosing a boat."

MAIB recommends that prospective guests book liveaboard holidays only through reputable vendors that can assure safety standards. Still, we are not sure how that helps. Are these vendors knowledgeable enough to make those judgments, or are they even interested?

Undercurrent has reported in the past how the owner of a Philippines liveaboard told us he was disappointed that dive trip vendors during his trade presentations at dive shows showed little interest in the significant steps he had taken to ensure safety and seemed focused only on how much they could make selling trips to their clients.

Even if potential passengers did due diligence in researching a Red Sea vessel (with trip reviews posted by the often ill-informed), or any vessel elsewhere, they might be switched at the last minute to a different liveaboard when boat operators consolidate their bookings.

We don't have any answers. There are moves afoot, headed by marine surveyor and former builder and manager of high-end liveaboards in Indonesia, Andrew Laughlin, along with other heavyweights of the liveaboard industry, to start a liveaboard Safety Certification Rating (not unlike the New Car Assessment Program in Europe -- NCAP), with scores out of 10 and reports, plus videos to train owners (and guests). For example, Tesla's Cybertruck failed an assessment and cannot be sold or used on roads in the EU or UK.

Prospective passengers need a safety guide when booking liveaboards. In the meantime, divers must remember there is no government regulation in countries like Egypt (apart from the toothless Hurghada Environment Protection Agency), Indonesia, the Philippines, and beyond.

-- John Bantin