VIDEO: Fire on dive boat, all reported safe
Sea Safari VII, a dive charter boat based in Indonesia, has become another casualty of fire, with – as yet unconfirmed – commentary suggesting that three liveaboards have been lost this way in the last six months.
The fire occurred on the 2 May 2024, in the Komodo National Park area. Seemingly all 26 guests and seven crew members onboard are accounted for.
Sebuah kapal wisata terbakar di perairan dekat Pulau Pengah, Nusa Tenggara Timur, Kamis (2/5/2024) pagi. Diketahui jika kapal pinisi tersebut bernama Sea Safari VII.
— inilahcom (@inilahdotcom) May 2, 2024
Satu orang dikabarkan mengalami luka bakar akibat kobaran api yang membakar hampir di seluruh badan kapal wisata… pic.twitter.com/zlSbrkayol
Alex Lindbloom, an underwater film and photography professional, says he was onboard a boat bound for the Rinca Ranger Station in Komodo National Park when he noticed some smoke coming from the distance.
“It wasn’t much, it looked a bit like some heavy exhaust, but we soon realised it was coming from a boat,” he says. “The captain of our boat quickly found out that it was the Sea Safari VII, an older liveaboard in the area. We couldn’t get much info over the radio so we re-routed our boat to see if our assistance was needed as the boat was clearly on fire now, with black smoke billowing out.”
Lindbloom (whose pictures are used above) continues: “As we got closer we could see that the life rafts had been deployed, as had the liveaboard’s tenders. Several speedboats from Labuan Bajo were also en-route as was another day trip dive-boat, who was already in the process of retrieving the guests on the lifeboats.
“So far as we know all the crew and guests were able to make it off the boat ok, thankfully! The boat was not on anchor or a mooring and was drifting south through the Linta Strait between Komodo Island and Rinca. According to the captain of our boat, the Sea Safari VII later burnt to the water line and eventually landed on the north side of Padar Island.”
Padi Travel says Sea Safari VII (pictured below before the fire, courtesy of All 4 Diving Liveaboards) offers scuba diving cruises in Indonesia, from Bali to Nusa Lembongan, Komodo, Flores and much more. It was renovated in 2015 and featured a beautiful wooden jacuzzi on the upper deck.
The dive travel site describes it as ‘eye-catching and timeless, offering divers a classic cruising experience across Gili Trawangan, Labuan Bajo, Maumere, Bima and past the active Sangeang volcano’ with ‘beautiful Indonesian and Balinese-inspired art and features’.
Dive boat fires
According to Divernet, the Oceanic (pictured below courtesy of MY Oceanic Liveaboards on Facebook) also suffered a catastrophic fire while operating in Raja Ampat, Indonesia. The blaze occurred on 1 March 2024, and was reported to have started in the engine-room. That required a rapid evacuation of guests and crew.
The fire spread quickly but both passengers and crew were rapidly evacuated with the tenders to the village of Airborek.
Prior to the above, the luxury scuba diving liveaboard Indo Siren (pictured below from a photograph circulating on social media) was destroyed by fire near the Piaynemo Islands, Raja Ampat on 30 Nov 2023.
All 15 guests and 16 crew on board were safely evacuated and there were no reports of injuries. The vessel was departing from Waigeo Island on its way to Fam, says Dive Magazine.
The owner of an extensive fleet of liveaboards in the Red Sea and Indo-Pacific recently told Undercurrent: “It’s a numbers game. There are more and more boats. Statistically, there are fewer boats in operation being lost than ever before. There are just too many boats there.”
But that doesn’t adequately explain why so many high-end boats, catering to people willing to spend $4000 or more for a week aboard, have such serious safety issues. It may be more in line with what one owner, scathing about the safety issues of others, told the dive website: “At every dive show, I make a PowerPoint presentation to charter companies. One section of my presentation is on IACS class and safety, redundancy, etc. Not a single person has ever asked me a follow-up question. All questions are only related to prices and commissions.”
Detik-detik Kapal Pinisi Sea Safari VII terbakar di perairan Labuan Bajo, Kabupaten Manggarai Barat, NTT pada Kamis (2/5), satu orang dilaporkan alami luka bakar akibat kejadian ini, seluruh penumpang selamat. pic.twitter.com/qlW3TJjPnp
— Daeng Info (@Daeng_Info) May 2, 2024
