Around 3:00 p.m., when all divers were expected back aboard, former skipper Geoffrey “Jack” Nairn asked crew member George Pyrohiw to conduct a headcount. It was a routine but critical safety protocol – and one that required absolute accuracy.
According to Pyrohiw, there should have been 26 people on board. But during the count, two passengers jumped back into the water to take final photos, creating confusion. Pyrohiw claimed he only counted 24, but when he reported it, he said Nairn responded: “And two in the water makes 26.”
What followed was a chain of oversights that compounded the tragedy.
