Socorro Aggressor Fails the Test: Undercurrent 01/2023

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Liveaboards in the Aggressor fleet are individually owned but are marketed under the banner of the Aggressor franchise. They have to meet the criteria the Aggressor organization sets, but sometimes local owners cut corners or don't reinvest in their vessel's maintenance.

In 2017, the Mexican-owned M/Y Cassiopeia became the Socorro Aggressor. In 2019, we received our first questionable report.

"The boat was fairly shabby. As my first Aggressor experience, I didn't know what to think, but other more experienced travelers told me it was not up to the usual Aggressor standards." In 2020, it stopped running due to the pandemic.

During the last week of November, alarm bells rang. Subscriber Jeff Moore (Sahuarita, AZ) reported that the vessel "is in dire need of some TLC, with rust visible and some wooden flooring desperately needing replacement. Typically, there were air conditioning problems, and, initially, a strong smell of varnish . . . . There was no record of nitrox delivered, nor were divers' max depth and dive time logged . . . . there was no safety briefing on emergency exits, protocols in case of fire, or muster area. Worse, several fire alarms, smoke detectors, and fire extinguishers were said to be not in working order." He also reported watching the divemasters smell the air from the tanks and then empty them due to bad fills."...

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