Dive boat explodes/sinks off Long Caye
Tonight eighteen tourists and four local crew members are lucky to be alive following an explosion aboard a dive boat on Thursday afternoon. According to three Canadian divers on “Miss Mel” at the time of the incident, the vessel was just moving off to another site off Long Caye near Lighthouse Reef when they heard a loud bang.
Steve Mowvley, Survived Boat Explosion
“It sounded like a rod going through metal or a belt snapped, that sort of crack noise. And the guys, the crew just shut the engines down, threw an anchor over to hold us in the current and smoke started coming out of the hatch.”
Kathy Mowvley, Survived Boat Explosion
“The smoke started and then black smoke started and then the flames started all within about two, three minutes, like it was quick.”
Steve Mowvley
“It was a matter of seconds and filled the compartment was smoked. We all got out onto the stern, the smoke follows us, as smoke does, so we all went up to the bow where the boat decided to drift around and the smoke filled the bow by which time the crew, no way could the crew fight this fire.”
Kaine Manuel
“Now you get in the water and what are you seeing? The boat completely engulfed in flames? How long did it take before it really turned into a ball of fire?”
Steve Mowvley
“I took three photographs, looking back, swimming away and the boat is just—the flames are on the second deck, the three to second deck, thick black smoke. And just get the hell of here because if a tank blows or something goes, we are going to have a problem.”
Kaine Manuel
“What happened to the boat?”
Kathy Mowvely
“It’s at the bottom of the sea.”
Dave Cote, Survived Boat Explosion
“We all swam to an Aqua Divers boat and we all got onto their boat and they took us to Long Caye Island where we waited on the island for the Amigos del Mar boats to come pick us up, which was about two hours after the incident.”
Kaine Manuel
“So kudos to the crew?”
Steve Mowvley
“Oh yeah, yeah.”
Kathy Mowvley
“Hands down flat. They were great.”
Steve Mowvley
“It was pure confusion, you couldn’t see anything. Kudos to the passengers as well, nobody panicked and got into the water, helped each other and got to the island.”
The passengers and crew escaped with only minor cuts and bruises. The forty-eight foot dive boat was insured but the equipment and engines were not. According to officials from the Belize Port Authority, Miss Mel is still submerged in about fifteen feet of water off Long Caye. Investigators plan to visit the area on Monday to begin the preliminary inquiry into the cause of the accident. However, this afternoon Major Lloyd Jones pointed out to us that under the Harbour and Merchant Shipping Act, every boatmaster must make an immediate report to the harbour master following any collision, grounding, fire, lost or damaged vessel. Because San Pedrano Jose Paz, the owner of Miss Mel, did not do so in this cause, he is now subject to a fifteen thousand dollar fine and his boat license could be revoked.
