This is morbidly fascinating.

Since you posted this in '21, I presume all that's left of the missing seven by now are FB (& real-life) memorials.

The behavior of Seacor's CEO doesn't surprise me a bit. In business _&_ politics, the basic problem is that power often attracts those most unsuited to it by whatever moral standard you go by.

May they rest in peace.

Edit: If you have the time to check, great. Don't interrupt your schedule just for me. If it's convenient & you feel like doing so, you could send me a note about it.

I love your passion

I think it's really important to contextualize the dangers of water rescue here, because there are a ton of them, even in calm waters.
If you are on land and there's someone drowning that's one thing, but if you have to get into the water to rescue an individual, that completely changes the nature of the beast, because then not only are you fighting the water and your SCUBA gear, you're also fighting with a panicked, drowning person. In this specific situation, you're also worried about being crushed against the boat by waves. It's a dangerous situation that even the best divers struggle with.
Here's the biggest factor why divers didn't dive immediately after the storm: if you dive in the gulf after a bad storm, you're diving completely blind. The amount of mud and crap in the water make it essentially a suicide mission.
With that being said, I think the response to the Seacor capsizing was mismanaged to say the least. You're absolutely right about the leadership; they are incompetent, have treated the families badly, and frankly should be removed from their positions. Whenever you have the time, you should absolutely do a follow up. The current mess with the director of the Cajun Navy is interesting as well.
This was a fantastic synopsis of events, thanks for making an informative talk for folks other than us down south!
May the crew of the Seacor Power rest in peace.
Edit: "Southern Louisiana is the Australia of America." Can confirm.

that's really weird. so just to clarify: this vessel capsized -> a couple of people were rescued -> there's still a bunch of people unaccounted for but no one knows anything?

the sense of urgency around this is really baffling. i can't quite understand how they can use heat signatures to verify people are alive and leave it at that

i'd imagine the most simplest explanation would be that they are simply still on the ship. i've tried to find a picture of the ship not capsized and it looks like it is quite big but at the same time, with a systematic sweep, it seems like it would be harder than not to miss them especially on multiple passes

You have a cute voice, you know that?

( wish my voice was as cute lol)