Charter company that sponsored fatal dive doesn’t have business licenses

The charter company that sponsored the diving expedition that claimed the life of Tennessee man Saturday in Beaufort does not have a current business license in the county.

Jason Owen, owner of Sea Island Divers, took four men on a diving expedition in search of shark teeth in the Broad River. During the dive, Brian Owens, 57, an experienced diver from Johnson City, Tenn., died in what an autopsy showed was an accidental drowning.

Sea Island Divers does not have a current business license in Beaufort, either with the city or the county, nor does it have a license in Bluffton, Hilton Head Island or Port Royal.

The United States Coast Guard is also investigating the charter’s credentials. Diving for shark teeth is a popular hobby, one that requires a special license. It appears none of the men on Saturday’s expedition had that license.

Five attempts were made to contact Owen by phone, and three messages for him were sent to the Sea Island Divers Facebook page during the past two days. He did not respond to any of those requests. He was also not at Sea Island Divers’ shop at 230 Sea Island Parkway on Thursday morning when a reporter visited.

Currently, Sea Island Divers’ Facebook page lists as its address 230 Sea Island Parkway.

That address, according to Justin Rose — business license administrator for the city of Beaufort — would fall under Beaufort County’s jurisdiction. Rose said there was no current license listing in the city for Owen or Sea Island Divers.

Businesses are required to be licensed where they are located and in other areas in which they operate, Rose said.

Edra Stephens, director of the county business license office, said there was no current listing for Owen or Sea Island Divers at the Sea Island Parkway address. There was an old listing for the business at 2223 Salem Dr. E, she said.

The Port Royal business license office had record of a 2014 business license tied to Sea Island Divers’ old location at 873 Robert Smalls Parkway. But the office advised that location had been closed for over a year and that the building that once housed it had been demolished to make way for a waterfront apartment complex.

Coast Guard spokesperson Petty Officer Anthony Soto said Thursday that a SCUBA diving charter operating in the Broad River in Beaufort County was required to have a National Operator of Uninspected Passenger Vessel (OUPV) charter boat captain credential.

The credential, commonly referred to as a “six-pack,” allows a charter captain to take up to six paying passengers on his boat, said Scott Dow of the Coast Guard’s regional examination center in Charleston. Dow said the credential is good for five years from the date of issue and has to be renewed in order for a charter captain to take customers out on the water.

When asked if the credential held by Owen was current and valid, Soto said: “That’s under investigation.”

Diving for shark teeth can be dangerous, but it can also yield lucrative treasure.

None of the men on Sunday’s charter — including Owen — had a hobby diver license, according to Jessica Irwin, an archaeologist with the Maritime Research Division of the South Carolina Institute of Archeology and Anthropology.

Divers who intend to collect artifacts and fossils — such as shark teeth — from state waterways are required by state law to have a hobby diver license, Irwin said.

The license — which ranges in price from $5 to $36 depending on a person’s residency and whether he or she opts for the six-month or two-year version — requires divers to register with and report their finds to the Maritime Research Division.

Until the division reviews the finds and issues a title for them to the diver, any artifacts or fossils collected remain state property.

While Irwin’s division hopes charter operators inform their customers about the license, she said it’s ultimately the responsibility of each diver to ensure they have the appropriate credentials.

This story was originally published May 12, 2016 at 4:33 PM with the headline "Charter company that sponsored fatal dive doesn’t have business licenses."