Worldwide Dive and Sail was born in 2003 on a simple premise; build diving liveaboard boats that provide the service that we, as divers, crave. As the years have gone by we have grown beyond the wildest dreams we had in those early days, but the focus has always remained the same – the guest.
Over the years we have built a team across the globe that we are incredibly proud of and we have shared some amazing times. Sadly, as this week, we have also shared some incredibly difficult times. In response to one of our posts on Facebook about the loss of Fiji Siren, someone posted “anyone can ‘sail a boat in calm waters’. It’s when things get rough that true skills and professionalism shine through”. Our team; on Fiji Siren, on the ground in Fiji, and at head office in Phuket have been the very epitome of this phrase and we cannot thank them enough.
At times like these, especially in this era of social media and instant gratification, people have a craving for information and are led to speculate on current events and past history. Often, fact gets mixed up with fiction and rumour becomes reality. Having seen this happening, especially on social media, as owners we feel that we should address the issue head on.
There are those out there who are insinuating that because we are not openly stating the cause of the sinking that we are hiding something. This is not the case and when we know for sure what happened we will be open about it, as we have been in the past. Until then, however, we can only pass along information that we know to be 100% true. To do otherwise would be irresponsible. More will surely follow on this in the fullness of time.
Also, not for the first time, there are comments from people who are openly saying that the incident was intentional so that we could claim on insurance. It’s very difficult to describe not just how hurtful this is, but also how offensive. There were 16 guests and 13 crew aboard Fiji Siren on the night of 14th of November and we are incredulous that anyone would consider that we might put even one of those souls at risk, in the dark and while they were sleeping, just for an insurance claim. Even had the boat been empty and in port, people seem to forget that insurance claims are not guaranteed to be paid. This is something that we can attest to personally.
Then there is our history. It’s no secret that Fiji Siren is not the first Siren that we have lost. We have never, and do not plan to, hide from the past. The expression ‘those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it’ is so very true and should always be kept in mind. In the interests of keeping this message of a reasonable length we will not go into everything here, rather, anyone who is interested can read more
here
We know it’s not an easy record to defend, but defend it we will. We know that all of our crews in these incidents have behaved excellently, that they followed procedure, that they put the customer’s safety first. There is no member of crew involved in any of our losses that we would not employ again, and of course that includes Fiji Siren. We are incredibly proud of them and will stand by them always! We know that our safety protocol is among the best in the business and anyone who has travelled with us will know this. We carry out muster drills on every cruise and make sure that people not only know where their life jacket is, but also make sure they know how to use it. We carry out fire drills, man overboard drills, hull breach drills on our vessels during cruises; with customers around to see it, and they state repeatedly that this is the first time they’ve seen this on a liveaboard vessel. Yes, we have had our problems, but we learn and we remember.
While we are down at heart right now, we will continue. We will do so because we are passionate about what we do. We believe in our product, we believe in our team, and we believe that together we can provide our guests with the most inspirational experiences.
Frank and Mark
Fiji Update - Siren Fleet:
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