Perth dive operator fined after leaving divers behind

Hillarys Boat Harbour in Perth, Western Australia (Photo: Shutterstock)

A Western Australian dive operator has been fined after leaving two of its divers behind in open water off Perth during a dive trip in March 2025.

Perth Diving Academy Hillarys has been issued penalties totalling almost AU$20,000 by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) following an investigation into the incident.

Brothers Ian Kensington and Ryan Chaudhry were part of a group with 15 other divers on board the dive boat Wildcat, diving a reef in Marmion Marine Park, which is located between Perth and Rottnest Island, a popular tourist spot approximately 14km offshore.

The pair were around 35 minutes into the dive and struggling with changing conditions when they heard Wildcat’s engines starting up.

‘We’ve had a snowstorm of surge come towards us, and it’s just literally killed all visibility, and we’ve been pushed back quite aggressively,’ said Mr Kensington.

The pair surfaced to see the dive boat on its way back to Perth, leaving them drifting in waters approximately 4 kilometres offshore.

‘I said, “I think [they] are leaving us in the water,” and I just saw the absolute panic on my brother’s face,’ said Mr Chaudhry, in an interview with ABC News.

The brothers inflated a surface marker buoy in an attempt to signal the dive boat, but it did not return.

‘The panic sets in at that point,’ he added. ‘I was saying, “Maybe we should swim, try and go for shore,” but we were very far out. I thought we were going to die. I thought we were completely stuffed.’

According to marine radio recordings from the time of the incident, Wildcat‘s crew realised about ten minutes after leaving the dive site that the brothers were missing.

The two men were rescued by a passing vessel from Rottnest Fast Ferries before the dive boat could reach them, after spending an estimated 30-50 minutes in the water.

Following the incident, AMSA launched a formal investigation into the operation of the vessel and the company’s safety procedures.

An official report said that the investigation identified multiple breaches of marine safety legislation, including failures in passenger accounting procedures and deficiencies in the vessel’s safety management system.

The regulator also found Wildcat was operating without a valid certificate of survey at the time of the dive.

AMSA issued five infringement notices to Perth Diving Academy, with fines totalling almost AU$20,000. The vessel was also served a prohibition notice, preventing it from operating until its owners demonstrated compliance with certification requirements and revised its safety management procedures.

The notice was later lifted after the regulator confirmed the deficiencies had been addressed.

Perth lawyer John Hammond, representing the brothers, said the fines were ‘not enough’, and described the incident as ‘clearly an issue of negligence’.

‘To leave two divers out from a fairly small boating expedition into the open ocean beggars belief,’ Hammond said. ‘There is absolutely no excuse.’

In a statement, Perth Diving Academy said: ‘The safety of our customers is paramount to our business. We will be reviewing our procedures and will implement any preventative measures if needed.’

Commenting on the case, Western Australia’s Premier, Roger Cook, said, ‘These tourism operators in the adventure tourism market play an important role as part of our economy and as part of our vibrant tourism product, but they have to do it safely.’

‘I’m so pleased those gentlemen were safe, but I’m also very pleased that the company has been held to account.’

AMSA said the case highlights the requirement for commercial dive operators to maintain robust roll-call procedures and comply with certification and reporting obligations at all times.