Dive company returns to Belize following deaths
In October 2001, eighteen American tourists and two Belizeans died while aboard the dive boat Wavedancer as it rode out Hurricane Iris in the port of Big Creek. Nine months later, no one has been brought before any court or commission of inquiry to establish whether negligence was to blame in the deaths. But today, the owners of the Wavedancer, the Peter Hughes Company, are back in Belizean waters, operating another diveboat, the Sundancer Two. The boat arrived this morning after two months at sea, travelling from Palau, in the South Pacific. The first passengers are due to arrive in the country in mid-August and in the interim the crew will be making minor modifications to the vessel. But today, the captain of the Sundancer Two, Raymond Heer, declined to tell News 5 what changes, if any, had been made to the safety procedures used in the event of a hurricane.
Raymond Heer, Captain, Sundancer II
“I don’t think at any point we had any intention of leaving…this is a good destination for us, the Belizean people are great and it’s a good destination for the dive tourists to come to.”
Janelle Chanona
“Given what happened last year with the Wavedancer, have there been any changes as far as safety procedures go during a hurricane or even a large storm?”
Raymond Heer
“I really can’t comment on that, I don’t want to comment for anybody.”
Janelle Chanona
“If there is a hurricane, we are in the season right now while you’re operating the Sundancer, what would be the procedure you would follow?”
Raymond Heer
“We have a specific procedure we follow and that procedure we should stick to. It’s not something I’d discuss on television in an interview or anything like that.”
Janelle Chanona
“So you can’t say whether you all would stay on the boat or advise your passengers to stay on the boat?”
Raymond Heer
“Every storm is different and every storm we treat differently. We treat it that way that it should be treated.”
Janelle Chanona
“But you can’t say whether it would involve having the passengers stay on board?”
Raymond Heer
“I’m not prepared to comment on things like that.”
Janelle Chanona
“You have one Belizean crewmember working for you right now, last time with the Wavedancer the Belizean crew were told that they either stay on the boat or walked away from their jobs is that going to be…”
Raymond Heer
“Can I stop this for a second…”
Off camera, Heer refused to comment about what options the Belizean crewmember would have if she wanted to leave the boat in the event of a hurricane. As to the unanswered questions about the company’s hurricane procedures, Heer told us that Peter Hughes, the owner of the dive company, would be in Belize tomorrow morning and asked that all further inquiries be directed to him.
