MV Conception

2019

Santa Cruz Island, overnight dive, thirty-four Location: Platt's Harbor, Santa Cruz Island, California · Coordinates: 34.05°N 119.72°W · Casualties: 34 · Survivors: 5 · Depth: 18 m · Cause: fire — Fire broke out on the main deck of the 75-foot dive boat at approximately 03:14 on 2 September 2019 during an overnight charter with 33 passengers sleeping in the below-deck bunkroom. The only escape paths were blocked by fire. · Fate: hull recovered · scrapped · Type: dive charter boat · Tonnage: 97 GRT · Crew: 6 · Flag: United States · Launched: 1981 American dive-charter boat, on an overnight trip to Santa Cruz Island for a group of 33 divers. Fire broke out at 03:14 on 2 September 2019 with the passengers asleep below. The only escape paths were blocked by fire; no watchman was awake, a violation of Coast Guard regulations the operator had routinely ignored. 34 dead. Captain Jerry Boylan was convicted of seaman's manslaughter in 2023, the first such conviction in a U.S. federal court since the Edmund Fitzgerald era. The Vessel The MV Conception was an American-flagged dive boat of the Truth Aquatics charter company, built at the Roger Builders shipyard at Oakland, California in 1981. She was 23 metres long, 92 gross tons, and powered by twin diesel engines producing approximately 600 horsepower. Her specific design was a small commercial dive boat intended for multi-day SCUBA diving charters in the waters off the Channel Islands of Southern California. Her accommodation comprised approximately 34 passengers plus 6 crew; her specific passenger accommodation was below-deck bunk configuration with approximately 34 berths in a single large bunk room. The specific multi-day dive-charter operational pattern involved: 3-day and 4-day dive trips from Santa Barbara harbour to the Channel Islands dive sites. By September 2019, Conception had been operating as a dive boat for 38 years. Her specific maintenance condition had been generally adequate; she had complied with the specific US Coast Guard inspection requirements for commercial dive boats. Her master on her final voyage was Captain Jerry Boylan, 69, a career American commercial mariner. Her complement on 2 September 2019 was 39 persons: 33 SCUBA diving passengers (predominantly Californian recreational divers) plus 6 crew. The Disaster The specific progression of the fire aboard Conception was catastrophic. The specific combination of: (i) the wooden superstructure of the 38-year-old dive boat; (ii) the specific combustible materials aboard (wetsuits, towels, galley equipment); (iii) the specific location of the fire (apparently originating in the galley area, which was between the crew sleeping quarters and the passenger bunk room); (iv) the specific inadequate fire-suppression systems aboard; and (v) the specific absence of a roving fire watch - produced a rapidly spreading fire that was substantially unavoidable. The specific fire spread through the middle deck of the boat within approximately 10-15 minutes of the initial ignition. The specific fire cut off the specific escape routes from the below-deck passenger bunk room: the specific single stairway from the bunk room passed through the area of the most intense fire. The specific crew response was severely compromised by the rapid fire development. The specific crew members aboard the above-deck accommodation were woken by the fire; the specific watch-keeper attempted to initiate emergency procedures but was unable to reach the passenger bunk room; the specific six crew members jumped overboard to save themselves and were subsequently rescued. The 33 passengers and 1 crew member trapped in the below-deck passenger bunk room died in the fire. The specific victims were unable to escape due to the compromised escape routes and the specific rapid progress