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View Full Version : Abandoned Diver Gets $1.68 Million



DockRat
10-25-2010, 06:52 PM
This Capt. Ray Leslie Arntz had a bad reputation for swooping in to areas with hoopers and dumping a dozen divers off. Try circling around at night pulling hoop nets with divers around. 1/4" neopreme is not very good head protection against propellors. :Shocked:

Then he leaves this dude stranded. Forget the head count. :Shocked:
What about the diver ? First rule is not to dive alone and keep in sight of your buddy.
This guy is diving solo away from the group 12 miles offfshore on a rig. WTG
Seems like alot of money for diving solo and getting lost.

Ray is the owner operator http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u22/bfamtime/anis/smileybat.gif What to go Ray. :Rolls Eyes:
Check his website and see his credits. :ROFL:

http://www.sundiver.net/

Jury awards abandoned diver $1.68 million :Shocked:
COURTS: The Santa Monica man sued Long Beach, Venice firms after incident.
By The Associated Press
Posted: 10/24/2010 10:08:12 PM PDTUpdated: 10/24/2010 10:42:48 PM PDT


LOS ANGELES - A scuba diver abandoned at sea for hours by a boat crew six years ago was awarded $1.68 million in damages, ending his legal battle against two Los Angeles County companies.

A Superior Court jury on Friday ruled for Daniel Carlock in his lawsuit against Venice-based Ocean Adventures Dive Co. and Long Beach-based Sundiver Charters.

The jury heard testimony that Carlock, who was 45 at the time of the 2004 incident, suffered post-traumatic stress disorder and developed skin cancer from exposure after floating in the ocean 12 miles off Long Beach, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Carlock, an aerospace engineer from Santa Monica, said he prayed to God not to let him die.

Carlock was eventually rescued after being spotted by Boy Scouts passing by on a boat.

He filed suit for negligence, infliction of emotional distress and fraud after the crew of the dive boat Sundiver left him in the water when he got separated from his diving buddy.

The Sundiver, carrying 20 divers, was near the oil rig Eureka when Carlock surfaced 400 feet from the vessel after having trouble equalizing the pressure in his ears.

Despite his absence, a dive master for Ocean Adventures marked him on the dive roster as present on the boat.

Then, to escape strong currents, the vessel moved to a second dive site seven miles away. Once the Sundiver was there, Carlock was again marked on the roster as having taken a second dive, even though he was floating alone miles away.
After a 23-day trial, the jury assessed total damages in the negligence suit at $2 million. The panel then reduced Carlock's award on the grounds that he was partly responsible because he had been told to surface closer to the boat.

"Dan has changed the industry's safety standards so that other divers won't be left out in the ocean and endure this kind of terror," said Carlock's attorney, Scott Koepke.

Koepke said industry standards had previously lacked specifics on how to count divers.

"Now they have to have visual verification and redundancy," he said. "And the dive boat captains, not just the dive masters, are responsible for the count."

A man answering the telephone at Ocean Adventures said owner Stephen Ladd was unreachable because he was diving off Thailand. Sundiver Charters did not respond to messages.

"It has been an ordeal," Carlock told the Times as he celebrated the award at a Newport Beach restaurant with his wife, Anne. "But I wanted to seek changes in the scuba industry. Others will benefit."

murrieta angler
10-25-2010, 07:00 PM
I'm there! Where's my lobsters!?

DarkShadow
10-25-2010, 09:13 PM
...and developed skin cancer from exposure after floating in the ocean 12 miles off Long Beach, the Los Angeles Times reported.

I didn't know you could get cancer from being out in the sun for a day.

I'm packing my sun block everywhere I go now.