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From: Keith <[log in to unmask]>
Newsgroups: rec.boats.cruising,rec.boats,rec.scuba.locations
Subject: Update on Wave Dancer - Belize
Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2001 08:43:42 -0500
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Xref: sn-us rec.boats.cruising:178653 rec.boats:483083 rec.scuba.locations:73595
RICHMOND (AP) - A tornado might have spun off Hurricane Iris and
ripped
a chartered dive boat from a pier and rolled it underwater in Belize,
killing 17 scuba divers and three crew members.
That is the conclusion of investigators from Lloyd's of London, the
Wave Dancer's insurance carrier, said Peter A. McLauchlan, a partner in
the
law firm representing the owners of the 120-foot boat.
"Knowing what I know now, it's amazing anyone made it out alive,"
Mr.
McLauchlan told the Richmond Times-Dispatch after spending several days
in
Big Creek, where the disaster occurred. Fifteen of the 20 victims were
from
the Richmond area.
An official government investigation has not been completed.
Mr. McLauchlan said eyewitness accounts, physical evidence and
twisting
damage in nearby wreckage led to the tornado conclusion.
Wave Dancer videographer Thomas Baechtold of Sweden, who was found
alive in the mangroves about 300 feet away, told investigators it felt
like
he was plucked out of the water by 20 pairs of hands and flung far away.
Ropes holding the boat snapped, and cleats were torn off the boat
and
the large concrete pier.
Angelo Mouzouropoulos, director-general of the International
Merchant
Marine Registry of Belize, said although the tornado theory has merit,
his
agency has not finished investigating.
Among the loose ends are comments made by one of the survivors
aboard
the Wave Dancer broadcast by Belize television.
Angela Luk, the boat's assistant cook for five months, told Channel
5
News in Belize she was told by the Wave Dancer's captain she would be
fired
if she left the Wave Dancer to find shelter shortly before the hurricane
hit.
"He said, 'If you go, you're not coming back.' I said, 'That's
fine,
I'm still going. I'm not going to be stupid and stay on the boat and
risk my
life,'" Miss Luk recalled.
Miss Luk told the television station she tried to convince other
crew
members to come with her. "They was really worried, there was crying and
they was confused. They don't know if they should go home. They wonder
if
they could go back to Corozal or if they should stay on the boat. But
they
decided to stay."
Three of those crew members died. The Wave Dancer's captain
declined to
discuss what happened.
The Wave Dancer was properly registered and inspected, and "it
would
appear at the moment all precautions had been taken to properly and
correctly secure the vessel at the dock," Mr. Mouzouropoulos said.
It will take more research before investigators reach their
conclusions, he said.
Bart Stanley, dive master aboard the Wave Dancer, said the boat's
owners and lawyers asked him not to discuss the incident.
But the Belize City resident said the storm defied human
comprehension.
He said he survived "by the will of God."
The bodies of the Richmond victims were flown from Belize on Sunday
and
have been taken to area funeral homes.
http://www.washtimes.com/metro/20011017-90655928.htm
--
__________________
Keith
A conscience is what hurts when all your other parts feel so good!
|
