Divernet News, dateline 31 January 2005
Abandoned diver sues boat operator for $4 million
A diver who was left at sea by a dive boat to drift for hours before rescue is to sue the boat's charter company and some of its employees for $4 million in damages.
Daniel Carlock is claiming that the incident occurred as a result of negligence and fraud; that he continues to suffer trauma from the experience; and that skin cancer, which he subsequently developed, was triggered by extended exposure to the sun during his enforced drift.
The 46-year-old alleges that the boat operator, Ocean Adventures Dive Company, departed from a dive site off Santa Catalina Island last April having failed to check adequately that all divers were back aboard, with the result that he was left behind.
In the suit, filed at Los Angeles County Superior Court, Carlock alleges further that, by subsequently misrepresenting his location, the company delayed his rescue by about five hours and put his life further at risk.
On his dive, Carlock had explored an abandoned oil rig with other divers when he found himself separated from his buddy. Upon surfacing, he tried in vain to attract the attention of the dive boat, which departed for another dive site.
He alleges that his buddy, employed by Ocean Adventures, did not report him missing immediately; and that this individual, along with another diving employee and the boat's captain, subsequently advised the Coastguard falsely that Carlock was lost at the second dive site.
The suit alleges that the men made the false statements to "cover up and wrongfully justify" their actions. As a result, claims Carlock, searchers combed the wrong area while he drifted undetected.
By good fortune, a tallship running excursions passed close by and a 15-year-old boyscout crewmember spotted the diver, who was picked up.
Related links
Diver saved by boy scout
'Forgotten' diver incident prompts safety calls
12 divers rescued after Red Sea boat separation
Dead calm
US courts over-rule diver's signed waiver
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Coastguard get new powers to help locate missing divers
Divers in court
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