RAID International have announced the opening of their China Office under the leadership of Edmund Yiu and Andreas (Andy) Baumgaertner.

Making the announcement, RAID Founder Barry Coleman said: “The RAID China office will administer RAID’s affairs in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. Both Edmund and Andy are also Directors of Ocean Dimensions Limited, a company that has extensive knowledge of the region developed over several years. They know what it takes to develop and maintain a successful business, so we at RAID International could not be happier than to bring these extremely experienced industry personalities into the RAID global family.”

Born in Hong Kong, Edmund has over 17 years of recreational and technical diving experience with more than 3,000 logged dives conducted throughout various locations around the world. Through his wealth of experience, Edmund hopes to share his passion and experiences through RAID with new and established divers and dive centres so that they can enjoy quality dive training and profitable business growth with RAID whilst ensuring the development of the right attitude to the underwater environment and its conservation.

Edmund Yiu

Edmund has achieved numerous Instructor / Instructor Trainer ratings from several diver training agencies and is currently certified as a RAID Open Circuit (OC) Instructor Trainer, RAID Deco 50 OC/CCR Instructor, RAID Sidemount Instructor, PADI Master Instructor, Emergency First Response Instructor Trainer, PADI Tec Trimix Instructor, PADI Tec Sidemount Instructor, PADI Tec CCR Instructor, IANTD Normoxic Trimix Technical Instructor, to name just a few of his diverse qualifications in his never ending quest for personal development.

Andy has been an avid diver for the past 20 years and has been highly active as a professional scuba Instructor for the last 7. Born in Germany, he moved to Hong Kong in 2002, which gave his diving career a huge push with him completing Trimix and Wreck certifications with IANTD. In 2012, he broadened his diving horizons further, utilizing the KISS CCR, the Poseidon MKVI CCR and more recently by becoming one of the first Hollis Explorer Sport Rebreather divers in China. Andy also holds instructor qualifications for OC and CCR recreational and technical diving with PADI and of course RAID. Through his continuous drive for quality, Andy will bring a great amount of experience and knowledge to RAID.

Andreas (Andy) Baumgaertner

In a joint statement Edmund and Andy said: “We cannot express more the tremendous excitement we share by joining the RAID Global Team. RAID China will bring to RAID strong administration skills, local experience and representation, of course the translation of the RAID materials and together with our RAID offices in Asia and Korea, be able to provide RAID Trainers and Examiners for both OC and CCR throughout the entire area.”

RAID Business and Marketing Director Terry Cummins welcomed the announcement and said: “The establishment of our China Regional Office is just another example of RAID’s impressive global expansion since our re-launch in 2014. RAID is truly a quality alternative to other training systems out there as evidenced by the quality of professionals we are attracting to RAID like Edmund and Andy from all over the world. Existing dive professionals and divers anywhere with a desire to come on board and join this exciting journey with us, that is, interested in becoming a RAIDer, should contact their local, full service, RAID Regional Office in Australia, Asia, China, Italy, Korea, Latin America, Middle East, Philippines, South Africa, UK/Malta or the USA.”

RAID Training Director Paul Toomer said: “The establishment of RAID China is an awesome development. I am absolutely thrilled! It fills yet another part of the globe where RAID is emerging as the training agency of choice of diving professionals unafRAID to take a serious look at us. We will be announcing RAID Crossovers in the China region and training for dive professionals at all levels in the near future along with the RAID Global Training Calendar for the remainder of 2015.”

For more information about RAID, visit www.diveraid.com.