Liveaboard

A liveaboard or diving cruise is a journey, in which several scuba divers take a safari boat from one diving area to another and still eat on the ship and stay; hence the English term comes liveaboard for " liveaboards ". On a diving safari you usually changes every second dive the dive site and are made daily between two and five dives. A diving safari usually lasts one week. There are probably most liveaboards in the Red Sea. But even in the Great Barrier Reef, in the Caribbean, Thailand, the islands of Indonesia, the Philippines and the Maldives, there are several dive safari tours. Quite a few liveaboards lead to remote, otherwise difficult to reach dive sites.

Emergence of the liveaboards

As one of the first coined the phrase Hans Hass Safari in connection with the diving when it was first in 1955 to finance his research vessel " Xarifa " so dive trips in the Red Sea offering. Another pioneer was based in Bourbonnais in the U.S. state of Illinois Company Lake and Sea Travel, which specialized in cruises. From 1972, Lake and Sea Travel liveaboards offered in different parts of the world. The world's first purpose-built as a liveaboard boat ship was the Ghazala I, which set sail in 1987 from Sharm el Sheik from. In the planning and construction of this vessel, Rolf Schmidt -oriented to the American yachts that time. Along with the ships of Somaya class and the Number One, which were operated by Rudi Kneip in the 80 years from 1991 or from Hurghada, put the Ghazala I standards at which oriented the subsequent safari boats.

Liveaboard boats

Liveaboard boats are usually between 10 and 40 meters long vessels, 8 to 50 persons can live comfortably and independently of external power supply, for about a week on the board. The special feature of liveaboard boats is that they have a large dive deck and mean a platform at the stern for the entry and exit of the divers. In addition, liveaboard boats are equipped with a powerful compressor and storage bottles for quick filling of the tanks with air or Nitrox. As emergency care to injured divers often is also pure oxygen available. Some boats have ready the electronic Rescue and Locating System ENOS as additional security for divers aborted. Some ships are built specifically for the purpose of diving safari, other liveaboard boats are converted fishing vessels, smaller decommissioned warships or motor yachts. There are also sailing liveaboard boats.

The dives often do not take place directly from the dive safari boat, but by an entrained dinghy. It is usually a small RIB.

Criticism

Again and again, cases are known in which end liveaboards with the death of divers. Which are under price pressure providers often save on the maintenance of the vessels; crew training and dive guides is often inadequate. These circumstances and the most great distance from civilization can be fatal especially for inexperienced divers. In case of accidents due to technical defects or improper dive planning help on the mainland is often unavailable and overwhelmed the crew with the situation.

Visit several liveaboard boats daily dive the same spot in a coral reef, it may suspend the underwater world one continuous stress. The vessels can cause the fish which sell sound, with their anchors damage the coral and the crews dump often - some toxic - waste ( such as cleaning and lubricating substances or engine ) into the sea. As a scuba diver is perceived by most aquatic animals as a threat, occurring daily large groups of divers can cause some species seek other, undisturbed habitats. With poor buoyancy can inexperienced or careless divers damage the corals directly by knock parts of it, or the ground kicking up, which can cause shadowing and the death of coral colonies. Become underwater creatures regularly fed by the crew of a liveaboard boat, this can lead to diseases of animals. All these reinforced by liveaboards stress factors have partially already fragile state, which is caused by global warming and the associated acidification of the oceans, in many reefs exacerbated. In 2011, therefore, prohibited the Thai environmental authorities diving at several popular destinations of diving safaris to allow recovery of the reefs.