NEWS UPDATES

The End of An Era

Ocean Rover just completed her last diving cruise in Thailand’s waters before relocating to Indonesia. Our guests on this historic voyage were the Houston Underwater Club, led by Mark Metz and organized by Judi Hartwick at Poseidon Ventures. The weather could have been a little better this last trip but a good time was had by all. From our Thai crew a heartfelt “Thank You” to the hardy Texans!

Houston Underwater Club on Ocean Rover's final Thailand cruise

Ocean Rover Relocates to Indonesia June 2008

Ocean Rover in North Sulawesi Indonesia

Jeroen Deknatel, managing director of Fantasea Divers – Ocean Rover Cruises recently signed an agreement with dive operators from Indonesia whereby liveaboard dive vessel Ocean Rover will change ownership and relocate to Manado, North Sulawesi, effective June 2008.

Ocean Rover will complete all scheduled departures from Phuket during the 2007-2008 Thailand-Myanmar season, as well as two Andaman Islands expeditions in March-April 2008.

From June 2008 onwards the vessel will operate under new management offering diving cruises in North Sulawesi and in Rajah Ampat.

To ensure a smooth transition all correspondence, e-mails and reservations for Ocean Rover will continue to go through the existing channels until the new owners are ready to take over this task.

Diving legends at our booth DEMA 2007

Ocean Rover will continue to be maintained to IMO standards. In fact, with the vessel now seven years old, a complete overhaul of all machinery is taking place this October.

Ocean Rover’s future owner is Austrian-born, Manado-based Roman Szalay. Inspired by legendary Austrian dive pioneer Hans Hass, Mr Szalay started snorkeling at the age of nine and has since become an accomplished underwater photographer and co-owner of several dive resorts in North Sulawesi.

The annual DEMA dive industry trade show took place in Orlando, Florida from 31st October until 3rd November. Both Jeroen Deknatel and Roman Szalay were present in the Ocean Rover booth to meet all the industry professionals that have supported Ocean Rover over the years.

Pictured at Ocean Rover's booth with our managing director are world renowned diving legends Rodney Fox, Stan Waterman and their partners.

Ocean Rover on Global “TOP TEN” Liveaboard List

Unterwasser, a major European dive publication, listed Ocean Rover in their April 2006 issue’s “The 10 Best Dive Safaris in the World”. The magazine, which focuses on exotic dive travel and underwater photography, listed their ten favourite liveaboards in a colourful 18-page lay-out that included vessels such as the esteemed Bilikiki and Canada’s Nautilus Explorer. We are proud to be recognized as a world leader in the luxury liveaboard industry and inspired to raise our cruises to ever higher standards.

Global TOP TEN list

Ocean Rover listed

Ocean Rover Awarded Top Honours

Ocean Rover Cruises was named “Benchmark for a World Class Liveaboard operation” in a recent Liveaboard Survey conducted by Australasia ScubaDiver Magazine, the official publication of the PADI Diving Society in the Asia-Pacific region. The results were published in the April issue and coincided with the ADEX dive show in Bangkok.

Ocean Rover awarded Top Honours

The Liveaboard Survey was conducted by an experienced team led by well-known underwater photographer Michael Aw, who has personally travelled on board most of the vessels listed in the survey. A few quotes from the publisher:

“… After nearly twenty years of live-aboard diving I found the operational standard and quality of the Ocean Rover in Phuket to be one that can be used as the model, a benchmark for rating the live-aboard boat operation. While the decor of the boat [is not opulent] the quality of the service, operational standards and diving is certainly world class.

[On a scale of] 1 to 10, I would score Ocean Rover as an overall 9, up there with the best of the best. After more then 15 years competing for patronage of discerning divers from the USA and Europe, the operational standard of the Ocean Rover can be used as a template for others to emulate if they are serious in offering a world class live-aboard service…”  Read actual comments from Ocean Rover guests

IMO Certification For Ocean Rover

ITS OFFICIAL: Ocean Rover is a safe passenger vessel. Of course we knew this all along but it is rewarding to see that Lloyd’s agrees with us.

Ocean Rover, the safest dive vessel in Thailand

To achieve this rating we had to purchase a fortune worth of state-of-the-art (read post 9/11) electronic equipment to add to our already well-stocked wheelhouse. We also had to send our crewmembers to a new series of STWC training courses. The entire process was a very educational experience, not in the least for the Thai maritime authorities.

Sadly, Ocean Rover is one of the only liveaboards in Southeast Asia that is IMO certified. The shocking truth is that most (dive) boats plying Asia’s waters are woefully unsafe and would never be allowed to take commercial passengers to sea, had they been operating from western ports. This may well explain the significant difference in price between liveaboards; operating an IMO-certified vessel is far from cheap.

Next time you are shopping around for a liveaboard vacation; ask the boat operator if his vessel has an IMO number and a Safety Management Certificate. Otherwise that inexpensive dive cruise could well turn out to be your costliest trip ever. Learn more about Ocean Rover's IMO Certification.