July 2012    Download the Entire Issue (PDF)

Vol. 27, No. 7   What's this?

Problems with the Siren Fleet

divers must evacuate two liveaboards in less than six months

from the July, 2012 issue of Undercurrent  

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On June 6, the Oriental Siren was making its final diving voyage (unbeknownst to everyone on board), from the Malaysian island of Labuan to Layang Layang in the Spratly Island chain off the Borneo coast.

"Although we were scheduled to head for Layang Layang, a 185-mile journey, on the afternoon after a wreck dive, the captain decided not to because he was unsure of the weather," Undercurrent subscriber Sean Bruner (Tucson, AZ) reported to us of the last days of that final voyage. "The boat had made a rough crossing coming back from the last trip, and had arrived the same day we met it in Labuan, so the captain did not want to risk another rough crossing. We sheltered behind a small island for the night. The next day, we had a nice dive on the same wreck we had done the day before. We were scheduled to do a second dive on a different wreck, but the captain decided he wanted to head for Layang Layang while he had a weather window. The crossing had been estimated for around 16 to 18 hours."

Subscriber Sherri Wren (Palo Alto, CA), who was also on the trip, said a divemaster told her about the rough 24-hour crossing from Layang Layang. "He said it was so bad that they did a visual hull inspection at the dock, but everything apparently was fine. It was a nice day when we started the journey. I had a cabin in the front, and didn't think the crossing was bad."

But when Bruner woke up to use the bathroom during the night of June 6, he noticed water on the floor. He assumed water had slopped out of the shower, so he went back to bed, but he did notice one strange thing. "When a wave hit the boat sideways, I would hear the distinctive thump, but it was followed by a splash or sloshing noise that was coming from inside the ship. Water would then flow into the cabin from underneath the shower stall."

Wren also work up early, around 3 a.m., to feel water right next to the bed, "but it was a not a lot, so it didn't concern me."

At 4 a.m. on June 7, Bruner went upstairs. "I could see into the engine room, as its door was propped open, and there was a lot of water on the floor. When I got up early on the previous two mornings, the boat was deserted. This day, it seemed like the entire crew was running around. I saw Arndt, the German cruise director, and he said we should be in Layang Layang in a couple of hours. Then the boat was slowing, and there was considerable activity by the crew, with much shouting in Thai. At some point, Brian, Arndt's Irish assistant, came into the dining room and announced there was a 'bit of an emergency' and we were to put on our life jackets. He said one of the two bilge pumps was down, and we were taking on water."...