5 scuba divers rescued off Hawaii Kai after being spotted by sailboat

HAWAII KAI (HawaiiNewsNow) – Five scuba divers who were drifting for hours were rescued after being spotted by a sailboat in waters off Hawaii Kai.
Camila Storchi was sailing with her husband from Kaneohe to Honolulu Wednesday when they heard a commotion coming from the water.
”We were passing Hanauma and going around China Walls. He heard screaming for help and he started scanning the ocean and we saw five little dots,” said Storchi.
Those dots turned out to be five divers, all clinging to one another desperate to stay to stay above water.
They told Storchi they’d drifted away from a tour boat. One of the divers appeared to be in bad shape.
”One of them was like gray and he was throwing up,” said Storchi. “My husband tried to pull him and he couldn’t even hold the ladder. We tried to pull them up but the boat was rocking back and forth.”
Storchi said her husband immediately radioed the Coast Guard who allegedly told them there had not been any other calls for help.
The sailboat stayed on scene, keeping a close watch over the exhausted divers.
However, a bizarre encounter happened that left the Storchi’s confused.
About 45 minutes later, a Coast Guard helicopter arrived.
Then a boat also appeared out of nowhere.
“When the helicopter was getting low, this boat came fast and scooped them up and left and we thought it was weird,” explained Storchi.
She said the divers later found her on social media and explained what had happened.
“We didn‘t know the other side of the story,” said Storchi. “We found out there were six divers and one stayed on the boat and said the captain was not monitoring anything. The diver had to tell the captain ‘Look, there’s is a Coast Guard helicopter, maybe they are there.’”
Storchi said she‘s sharing this encounter to highlight concerns around boat safety. She’s worried the tour captain may not have called the Coast Guard for help when it was necessary.
“When you have divers, you need to be scanning the horizon, even if they are under the sea. Something can happen,” she explained.
A statement from the Coast Guard sent to HNN after the story aired read:
This case happened on Nov 6th about 1 mile south of Hawaii Kai. The Honey Ann, a dive platform boat, had lost five divers and overheard the radio traffic (from crew of sail boat) on Ch. 16 and contacted the Coast Guard Command Center to make the report. The M/V Holding Fast crew was transiting the area when they spotted the five divers but were unable to bring them aboard. The crew of Holding Fast threw a line to the divers to keep them from drifting while the Coast Guard diverted an MH-65 helicopter from a training flight. The helicopter arrived on scene and relayed the position to the Honey Ann (dive boat) who transited to the location and picked up the divers. No injuries were reported.
Hawaii News Now also later received a statement from Kailua based company, Aaron’s Dive Shop, regarding the incident:
We are grateful that all divers returned safely and without injury following last week’s incident. We extend our thanks to the good Samaritans who assisted in locating the missing divers. Statements from both the captain and dive leader indicate a last minute decision was made to change the dive site; however, our documented protocol was not followed in executing this change. The dive leader took responsible steps to maintain safety, including having proper surface marker buoys and keeping the group together while separated from the boat. We are currently reviewing what occurred and our current protocols with our dive and boat staff to prevent similar incidents in the future. We have also submitted an incident report to our certifying agency in an effort to get outside critique and recommendations to improve our protocols and training. Aaron’s Dive Shop is proud of our excellent safety record, and we remain fully committed to upholding our high standards through consistent training and rigorous oversight.
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