Scuba company has history of violations

Ryan Naquin -

A Little River scuba business that was running the trip when a Massachusetts woman died has a history of violating basic rules with the United States Coast Guard.

On July 24th, Karen Murphy, 43, died while diving on a Coastal Scuba vessel off the coast of Little River.

USCG records obtained by NewsChannel 15 show at least five violations and one other death, of which they were not at fault, that occurred since 2004.

On May 12, 2011, Coast Guard officers issued a violation to Coastal Scuba for failure to have proper documentation on a vessel. In the incident report, a Coast Guard officer asked the boat's master to allow inspectors to board their vessel.

The master reportedly told the officer, "We are fishing...Do you really want us to stop fishing ?," the report says.

The officer said the master reluctantly complied to the Coast Guard boarding for an inspection.

When the officer noticed there were three small children on the deck not wearing life preservers, he instructed one of the boat workers to put life jackets on the children, the report says.

The boat's master told the officer he had not heard of this law, referring to children having to be in a Coast Guard approved life jacket while on deck, according to the report.

On August 29, 2011, the Coast Guard gave a notice of violation to Coastal Scuba for discharging 25 gallons of diesel fuel into the Intracoastal Waterway, a report says.

According to the report, one of Coastal Scuba's vessels was leaking fuel into the navigable waters.

On May 13, 2008, Coast Guard officers issued a failure to be in full compliance with the terms of the Certificate of Inspection when operating with passengers on board, according to records.

The report says Coastal Scuba employees were swapping lifesaving equipment between two of their vessels and did not have properly functioning equipment onboard upon a random inspection.

Full article...

Posted via http://maritime-news.posterous.com Maritime-News posterous