16 replies to this topic

[Jerrymxz]

http://worldwidedive...arin-siren.html

I just found this on Facebook. I'm going to look into it some more. Has anyone else seen this?

[WreckWench]

It is true. They have notified all resellers to let them know in case they have booked clients on this boat. They asked us to NOT go public until they could notify all future passengers.

I believe they had set today to make the official announcement of the incident. From the letter on the incident:

On 1/3/2012 4:54 AM, Worldwide Dive and Sail wrote:
> *S/Y Mandarin Siren*
> Dear Single Divers
>
> We are very sad to have to announce a very unfortunate incident on the
> S/Y Mandarin Siren.
>
> At this time we have refrained from making a full public announcement
> as we have a large number of guests booked on future trips aboard the
> S/Y Mandarin Siren and in the interests of professionalism we are
> trying to notify those people before they read about it from the
> general public. However we wished to notify you as our agent so that
> you can be fully aware of the situation in case of guest inquiry.
>
> While the exact details of the event are still somewhat unclear, what
> we do know is that a fire broke out below decks while the guests were
> on a morning dive in the Raja Ampat region. The origin of the fire is
> not yet fully confirmed but we believe that it was caused by an
> electrical fault of the tumble dryer in the laundry room and quickly
> spread to the engine room. Guests were not aboard at the time and
> therefore were never in any danger. The crew did everything they could
> but in the end were unable to contain the blaze and were forced to
> abandon the vessel which was subsequently lost. No one was hurt in the
> accident and for that we are incredibly grateful -- no matter how
> great the loss to us it could have been very much worse.
>
> Our other Indonesian vessel, the S/Y Indo Siren, was very near at the
> time of the accident and steamed immediately to pick up the guests and
> crew from the tender. A speedboat was immediately dispatched from
> Sorong to pick everyone up from the S/Y Indo Siren and return them as
> quickly as possible to Sorong where they were provided with fresh
> clothing, accommodation and assistance from our staff. The next day
> they were flown to Jakarta where fleet owner Frank and the team in
> Indonesia were there to meet them. All the guests were assisted in
> obtaining emergency travel documents and re-arranging travel and they
> subsequently flew home to be with their families over New Year.
>
> An official announcement will be made to our newsletter subscribers,
> on our website and on internet diving forums on Wednesday 4th January.
> So if you had guests booked on board the S/Y Mandarin Siren and you
> have not yet contacted them please do so immediately.
>
> We would also like to request that any promotional material on your
> websites regarding the S/Y Mandarin Siren and special offers for the
> S/Y Mandarin Siren are removed as soon as you are able.
>
> For all of us at Worldwide Dive and Sail this is a shock and a great
> loss, but as said above it could have been very much worse. We are
> very thankful that none of the guests or the crew were injured or worse.
>
> Thank you very much indeed for your concern and also many thanks to
> everyone else who has sent their condolences in the past days.
>
> Best wishes form all at the Siren Fleet
>
> *Worldwide Dive and Sail*
> 38 Lee Park
> London
> SE3 9HZ
> UK

[Parrotman]

This is very sad. Also a bit scary that they did not have adequate fire walls to prevent the total loss of the boat from something like a dryer fire. Even the store that I manage has better fire protection than that and we are not at sea with people confined to cabins at night sleeping. Thank goodness the passengers were diving and there were minimal crew on board. This could have been a real disaster.

J

[WreckWench]

It has been a tragic loss but one that will prompt changes on all their boats to prevent this sort of incident from happening again.

[Racer184]

Turned out a lot better than this incident.

[shadragon]

Firewalls have a rating in hours as to how long they can withstand open flames. They are not designed to stop fire completely, at least not on boats as there is typically several feet of concrete involved in the higher rated ones. Firewalls are designed to retard the flames, let people get clear and allow the fire people time to deal with it.

Would be a royal b**** to go for a liveaboard dive and surface to find only the Zodiac.

[Landlocked Dive Nut]

Would be a royal b**** to go for a liveaboard dive and surface to find only the Zodiac.

Or to be doing your safety stop, and see the boat coming down to meet you!

[peterbj7]

Promises to be exceedingly costly for the operator, who I presume will replace all items lost by guests. I know absolutely nothing about this incident, but I have been involved with two fires at sea, both of which caused total loss. In both cases the fire was perfectly containable given basic fire extinguishing systems. A relatively large dive boat was lost here a few years back, and an argon or even a nitrogen engine room extinguishment system would almost certainly have saved the boat. Yet when the replacement was launched it also was devoid of any built-in extinguishers. Another large boat here was subsequently launched with again no extinguishment system. IMO such blatant negligence in inexcusable. A suitable system can be installed and maintained relatively cheaply, especially if surplus nitrogen (from nitrox production) is used instead of argon. In fact I know of NO substantial dive boats here that have a built-in extinguisher system. The portable extinguishers that are generally carried here and are in fact required by local law are totally useless against an engine-room fire - they won't even extinguish a fat fire in the galley.

I emphasise again that I do not know whether this is relevant to the loss that is the subject of this thread, though it does seem likely.

[peterbj7]

Or to be doing your safety stop, and see the boat coming down to meet you!

That did happen here about five years ago, to people diving off Ambergris Caye from a boat from Caye Caulker. They were indeed rather surprised, amongst other emotions.

[Jerrymxz]

The Siren boats are wooden sailing ships. I saw a video on their construction at Beneath the Sea a couple years ago. They are beautiful handmade pieces of art build using traditional methods. So no firewalls but to not have installed some manor of substantial firefighting equipment is at least cavalier if not downright reckless. I fear the outcome would have been much different if it had occurred at 0300 instead of in the middle of the day with all guests, divemasters and surface support off diving. I hope all on board had trip insurance.

[sharkCrazy]

at least the fire didn't happen at night with all aboard. However, what runs through your head as you surface?

[secretsea18]

The Siren boats are wooden sailing ships. I saw a video on their construction at Beneath the Sea a couple years ago. They are beautiful handmade pieces of art build using traditional methods. So no firewalls but to not have installed some manor of substantial firefighting equipment is at least cavalier if not downright reckless. I fear the outcome would have been much different if it had occurred at 0300 instead of in the middle of the day with all guests, divemasters and surface support off diving. I hope all on board had trip insurance.

I have been on this boat, and it was a very nice boat that provided an intimate environment because of the maximum of 6-8 passengers aboard.

The operator, Frank Van Der Linde, is meticulous with the safety briefing and there are multiple fire extinguishers everywhere in the boat. It is sad that this fire was not able to be contained and the boat was lost.

As the email that I received from the company indicated that the operators flew everyone to Jakarta and assisted them with getting documents such as passports replaced, and knowing the operators personally, I have no doubt that they will replace the possessions of the passengers and help the crew as much as is possible. This is a reputable company and I have no doubt that they will 'do the right thing".

[peterbj7]

The operator, Frank Van Der Linde, is meticulous with the safety briefing and there are multiple fire extinguishers everywhere in the boat. It is sad that this fire was not able to be contained and the boat was lost

That is precisely the point. "Multiple (portable) fire extinguishers" will be of no use against an engine room fire. What you have to do is exclude air, and once you open a doorway or hatch to gain access with your portable fire extinguisher all is lost. The ONLY form of fire extinguisher that can work is one that is fixed in place and can be operated remotely, and quickly. Easily done with say four large gas storage cylinders kept outside the engine room, with HP metal hoses to pipe the inert gas into the confined space. That is the only form of extinguisher that can work on a boat with inboard engines yet seemingly is never fitted, at any rate on the sort of boats we're considering.

As to insurance, if I had just lost all on that boat I would be looking to the operator to make good my loss. Whether or not i was insured would be irrelevant - it is the operator who needs to be insured.

[TexasDiver]

1325864775[/url]' post='294826']
As to insurance, if I had just lost all on that boat I would be looking to the operator to make good my loss. Whether or not i was insured would be irrelevant - it is the operator who needs to be insured.

Best would be your own insurance paying you immediately on proof of loss and letting them subrugate that, plus any uncoverd loss and your deductible, to the operator or his insurer, don't you think? One could wait forever and expend a great deal of time and effort trying to collect directly and unassisted from an un- or under-insured operator.

Edited by TexasDiver, 06 January 2012 - 04:07 PM.

[peterbj7]

To be pragmatic I agree with you, so long as your own insurability isn't adversely affected by the claim. As a point of principle though I think the "person" who caused the loss should pay and should, if necessary, hold insurance to ensure that can happen. In this case that "person" is the owner or operator of the boat.