94005 Diving Signals

 

Operating in the Caribbean, I am stunned by the US parochial influence which ensures that boats operating divers use a special US (Pad 1) sport diving flag instead of International Code flag Alpha. Whereas I could (perhaps) accept an additional flag (at least in internal waters), this particular flag does not even feature in the International flag locker and I find this very unsettling. Worse still, operators in the area are generally totally ignorant of flag Alpha. It seems to me that the diving community are playing a very dangerous game and, as a mariner, I am concerned about how many other "local" signals are used for various other activities instead of the recognised International signals. If everyone is allowed to "do their own thing" the result is chaos.

Caribbean Flag: