Those Liveaboard Diver Lifts

In February, we wrote about lifts that transport UK divers from the water to the liveaboard deck, but it ain't gonna happen in the U.S., says Frank Wasson, the venerable captain of the Spree liveaboard operating in Florida.

"How I would love a diver lift. You'll find diver lifts on boats that do not travel internationally or answer to any flag state aside from their home state, or on uninspected vessels. But, you won't find them on inspected vessels like the California boats or any of the U.S. boats or boats that are flagged in one country but operate in another country because a diver lift is considered by the USCG to be a vertical man lift or elevator which requires inspection by an independent agency . . . .like the American Bureau of Shipping. That means that some liveaboard owner would also need a cert from a classification society, along with drawings and engineering support and the price just went from $50k to have one built to potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars for engineering, design approval, fabrication, installation and inspection. It isn't worth it.

I won't write the oldsters off quite yet, but when you can no longer get out of the water by yourself, life is telling you to take up golf."

In case you missed our story, have a look at www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3113oxz0RE