Rescuers questioned Monday the decision of a diving company to allow an inexperienced 41-year-old Czech woman to dive in challenging waters off Bali.
The search for Milea Bauerova, who has been missing since heading off on a diving trip from Nusa Penida on Friday, reached the end of its fourth day Monday. Continuous efforts by the Denpasar Search and Rescue team have yielded no results.
Famous for its diving sites, Nusa Penida is the largest of a group of three islands located some 20 kilometers off Bali’s southeast coast.
Putu Suardana from the Denpasar Search and Rescue team said Monday that the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency had already warned of rough seas throughout July and August in Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Ceningan.
“”I don’t know why the diving company ignored the warning and (I don’t know) on what assumptions they saw it was safe to take divers to that site,”" he said.
Denpasar Search and Rescue team head I Ketut Parwa said rough conditions had hindered the search for the woman.
“”The situation is difficult because there is a strong current, with high waves and strong winds,”" he said.
The team plans to continue searching for one week. “”We will then evaluate whether we should continue the search or not,”" Ketut said.
The woman was diving Friday with MM Divers, a diving company run by a Czech couple, Milan and Monica Jeglikova. Bauerova dived at the Blue Corner dive site, located off the point of Nusa Lembongan, a long and thin island to the north-west of Nusa Penida.
Rival diving company Bali International Diving Professionals have classified Blue Corner an advanced dive site.
World Diving Club manager Sue Beebe, who helped initiate search efforts for the woman, stressed that the site was for experienced divers who had gone on at least 100 dives.
She questioned the judgment of instructors from MM Divers in allowing an inexperienced diver to go alone at the site, which is known for its strong currents.
Bauerova reportedly had gone on 40 dives and was “”buddying”" with a junior diver who was no older than 15 years of age. “”Apparently the instructor had thought that the woman who had gone missing had surfaced with others in the group,”" Beebe said in an email sent to The Jakarta Post.
Beebe said MM Divers had not suspended business during the search and had taken guests out on Sunday and Monday “”and were once again taking divers to the very same site at Blue Corner”".
Beebe said MM Divers had contacted her in November last year to help with the search for two divers who were later found dead in a similar incident off Bali.
The owners of MM Divers had not replied to enquiries from the Post as of deadline last night.
Bali Police spokesman Sr. Comr. A.S. Reniban said police were questioning witnesses in the woman’s disappearance but had not named suspects. “”We’re still investigating whether there have been violations of the Criminal Code,”" he said.
Putu Suardana said that this was the fifth diving disappearance since 2006, the majority of which occurred off Nusa Penida.
Beebe said diving is a safe sport if proper precautions are taken and divers’ skill levels are catered for.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2007/08/28/diving-company-spotlight-over-czech-woman039s-disappearance.html-0
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