Where Travel Insurance Counts

The liveaboard Archipelago Adventurer ran into deep trouble in Raja Ampat, Indonesia, on October 26. “The vessel sat at anchor after a night dive, due to a combination of factors to do with weather and current; the vessel dragged the anchor and struck the reef stern first, sustaining damage to the drive shaft and propeller. The vessel was upright, but due to the propeller damage it proved impossible to dislodge her despite our efforts.” The guests were taken ashore by Max Ammer’s Papua Diving crew.

At first, the company found a replacement charter, hoping eventually to repair the Adventurer, but on December 20, the company pulled the plug on all replacement trips, leaving divers paid up for January and subsequent trips scrambling. With the owners of the Archipelago say they will refund all prepayments, divers holding air tickets to Indonesia will need to find another destination (and it’s unlikely to be a Raja Ampat liveaboard since they are all booked well in advance), or delay their trip, pay the airlines rebooking fines, and figure out what to do with the vacation time they had planned. www.mytripinsurance.com is a good place to research trip insurance.