SENSACIONES
8th February 2009, 08:04
Last May, British scuba diving instructor Richard Neely and his girlfriend Allyson Dalton were left stranded in the open ocean for 19 hours when the Pacific Star returned to land without them. The pair floated helpless in the sea overnight before they were eventually rescued.The Pacific Star's owners AP Vessel Management Pty Ltd, which trades as OzSail Skippered Yacht Charters, were charged with breaching the Workplace Health and Safety Act by neglecting to ensure all of their customers had returned to the boat before leaving the reef.
Mr Neely and Miss Dalton were among 20 passengers on the Pacific Star which left Airlie Beach in northern Queensland for a drive trip to Bait Reef off the Whitsunday islands on May 23. But when the couple surfaced at the end of the dive, having been dragged away by a strong current, they found the boat had gone.
They drifted for 19 hours before being rescued nine miles (14 kilometres) from the dive site, after a large-scale and expensive search operation involving seven helicopters, three planes and six boats.
Their story of survival overnight in waters that are known to host several species of shark made international headlines.
At the time, OzSail accused the couple of failing to follow directions or remain in the designated dive zone. But the company has now been charged with failing to ensure the couple's health and safety. OzSail has made no comment. The case will be heard on March 23.
Mr Neely's experience of being left on the reef echoes the story of Tom and Eileen Lonergan, American tourists who disappeared on a diving trip in 1998 after being accidentally let behind by their dive boat and were never seen again.
Several theories on what happened to the couple persist. Some suggest the pair were eaten by sharks, but the discovery of Mrs Lonergan's wetsuit and one fin, largely undamaged, has prompted suggestions that they either died of dehydration or drowning.
Their story formed the basis of the film Open Water.
Mr Neely and Miss Dalton were among 20 passengers on the Pacific Star which left Airlie Beach in northern Queensland for a drive trip to Bait Reef off the Whitsunday islands on May 23. But when the couple surfaced at the end of the dive, having been dragged away by a strong current, they found the boat had gone.
They drifted for 19 hours before being rescued nine miles (14 kilometres) from the dive site, after a large-scale and expensive search operation involving seven helicopters, three planes and six boats.
Their story of survival overnight in waters that are known to host several species of shark made international headlines.
At the time, OzSail accused the couple of failing to follow directions or remain in the designated dive zone. But the company has now been charged with failing to ensure the couple's health and safety. OzSail has made no comment. The case will be heard on March 23.
Mr Neely's experience of being left on the reef echoes the story of Tom and Eileen Lonergan, American tourists who disappeared on a diving trip in 1998 after being accidentally let behind by their dive boat and were never seen again.
Several theories on what happened to the couple persist. Some suggest the pair were eaten by sharks, but the discovery of Mrs Lonergan's wetsuit and one fin, largely undamaged, has prompted suggestions that they either died of dehydration or drowning.
Their story formed the basis of the film Open Water.