Some of you guys my have heard of Peter Sotis, ran a technical Dive shop/Rebreather training in North Broward in Pompano area. He has been in the news the last few years, he trained the film maker, Rob Stewart (Sharkwater film) and was on the dive when Rob died. He is being sued for that. But during that fiasco, he was also implicated in "smuggling" dive gear to Libya. Feds just arrested him. Not his first brush with the law either, and lets say his training methods were "unique". Oh, and to add to that he was accused by a prior business partner of selling non-DOT certified tanks and altering the tanks to appear DOT certified.


https://www.miamiherald.com/ne...adxDfdDdj-taNcYmOwUo

Ouch - Someone has some explaining to do....

wow...

What could possibly have gone wrong?

why is dive gear something you "smuggle" ?

Do we (USA) not want libya to have our dive gear ?

Dive gear used to be ITAR controlled and was on the Munitions List. Some years ago, it was shifted to an ECCN (Export Control Classification Number) as part of a list of items that can't be exported. Specifically:

f. Diving and underwater swimming apparatus specially designed or modified for military use, as follows: f.1. Self-contained diving rebreathers, closed or semi-closed circuit; f.2. Underwater swimming apparatus specially designed for use with the diving apparatus specified in subparagraph f.1;

It's really the rebreathers they don't like getting into the wrong hands, since they don't emit bubbles and are hard to detect.

Just think of the potential military applications. That's where this restriction comes from.

quote:

Originally posted by SBrooks:
Do we (USA) not want libya to have our dive gear ?

Are you asking why we wouldn't want a known hotbed of radical Islamic terrorism to have access to specialized professional/military-level closed circuit underwater breathing apparatuses that allow divers to become nigh-undetectable, and remain submerged for extended periods of time?

These aren't mere fins or snorkels that are banned from export to Libya.

quote:

Originally posted by SBrooks:
Do we (USA) not want libya to have our dive gear ?

Is Libya really a country..?

quote:

Originally posted by wxdave:
It's really the rebreathers they don't like getting into the wrong hands, since they don't emit bubbles and are hard to detect.

Just think of the potential military applications. That's where this restriction comes from.

That's the crux of this.

On the other hand, rebreathers require a lot of familiarization, even the civilian models, if you're not familiar with or, locked-in on processes & maintenance, can easily result in death from hypoxia.

This probably isn't the best defense!

“If someone wants to pick something up from us and ship it overseas, it’s none of our business,” Sotis said. “How do I stop a shipment from a company I didn’t hire?”

Per the referenced article...
"Rebreathers are scuba equipment, but unlike conventional scuba tanks, they don’t produce bubbles, making them popular among filmmakers and other people who don’t want to draw notice to themselves underwater."

"...other people...", possible terrorists perhaps?

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:

quote:

Originally posted by SBrooks:
Do we (USA) not want libya to have our dive gear ?

Are you asking why we wouldn't want a known hotbed of radical Islamic terrorism to have access to specialized professional/military-level closed circuit underwater breathing apparatuses that allow divers to become nigh-undetectable, and remain submerged for extended periods of time?

These aren't mere fins or snorkels that are banned from export to Libya.

I've never dived and no nothing about it. So forgive me for asking.

As for the rest of you - thank you for your answers. That's why I asked - because I didn't know...

No harm in asking. I was just clarifying, because I assumed you had already read the article in the OP before replying to the thread, which explained what was special about this particular scuba diving equipment in terms even non-divers would understand, but you were still unclear as to why letting terrorists have access to that advanced technology would be A Bad Thing.

From the OP's Miami Herald news article:

quote:

Rebreathers are scuba equipment, but unlike conventional scuba tanks, they don’t produce bubbles, making them popular among filmmakers and other people who don’t want to draw notice to themselves underwater.

They also allow divers to stay submerged longer.

Didn't read the article.

You caught me :-)