Following a recent audit by the Chamber of Diving and Watersports (CDWS) blue o two are pleased to announce that their entire Red Sea liveaboard fleet have been certified as fully compliant with EN 14467/ISO 24803 for Recreational Diving Services. This certification is for recreational scuba diving providers.
The audits have been taking place since May 2008, following the successful signing of an agreement to adapt and implement European Norms. This agreement has been put in place to ensure that all Red Sea dive centres and safari boats are working to the same safety standards and offering tourists a high quality of service. Any dive centre or safari boat that is found to be non compliant to the standards will be unable to renew their license from the Ministry of Tourism and will therefore be operating illegally.
The CDWS has already closed a number of dive centres in the South Sinai area of Egypt. The centres, which include one in Taba, eight in Dahab and 14 in Sharm el Sheikh, had been operating without an official Ministry of Tourism licence for two years. The CDWS had tried to convince them to operate legally, however, they all refused. A decree has now been issued for their closure.
The CDWS board said the closure of the centres is a major step towards raising standards throughout the dive industry in Egypt and ensure the level of safety for visiting divers is among the highest in the world.
Please ensure that any Egyptian diving service provider that you use has EUF certification.
blue o two EUF certificate numbers:
- M/Y blue Fin - EUF - CB EG 01 2009 200
- M/Y blue Horizon EUF - CB EG 01 2009 191
- M/Y blue Melody EUF - CB EG 01 2009 186