Fire on dive boat Conception in CA

[Griffo]

This thread is becoming a little toxic with lots of opinions and few facts.

Although there's currently zero evidence, I do wonder if it's worth all dive boats setting up a dedicated charging area in a location designed to limit the impact of any fire. All it takes is one cheap knockoff eBay battery

 

[Bruce Alan]

I dove this very vessel in this very location in June of 1985 as my FIRST exploration after obtaining my OW Cert on the NorCal Coast. It was SO AMAZING !!!
I was impressed with the Truth Aquatics crew at the time,
wore the T-Shirt forever until it disintegrated.

Going to be following this closely. Been going over my memories in my head all day today.
As I write this, tears are very close to flowing. Praying for the family, friends, and loved ones of the lost souls, and the survivors alike. A diver kind of expects to come up against life threatening situations underwater - that's what we train for, and to go like this is 'sick'... I imagine that everyone (except nightwatch) was pretty exhausted and sleeping deep after a few days of amazing diving.

Even with this foremost in my mind, I still look forward to someday soon acquiring a 50-60 ft Sailboat to use as a dive platform, and this has instilled a serious intent within to be SURE that the vessel is well equipped with safety equipment, backups, and escape routes...
Not saying that TA's Conception did not have those or was lacking in anything.
She was an awesome ship.

Condolences to all those that lost someone in this horrible disaster.

 

[Wookie]

The hatch was clearly inadequate for the number of people expecting to exit within a reasonable time in the dark of night. Could you see a new/revised requirement for egress to be timed? ie all passengers in a compartment being able to exit within 2 mins or something like that?

Yes, I see many regulations being rewritten as they were obviously inadequate, however, to say that the CG signed off with a wink is over the top.

The vessel was in compliance. If the regulations need changing, that isn’t on the owner or crew.

 

[Wookie]

I work in aerospace, not marine engineering so this may sound dumb. As has been mentioned for a new plane you have run cert tests with actual people to validate that exits work as designed.

Is any sort of testing like that required for ships? Is there a break point (displacement, capacity, length?) where it goes from requiring a real world test to certification based on following the regs and other substantiation work?

Yes, when the vessel travels internationally with more than 12 passengers.

 

[bigDave]

I've dived enough Socal boats with bunk rooms that I decided long ago that I'd never do a Socal liveaboard. Fire safety never crossed my mind at the time, but the uncomfortably cramped quarters were a huge turn off.

When I dove on the Truth and Vision, I spent my time in the water or enjoying the day. I loved to sit on the upper deck. We always got in a LOT of dives. (Didn’t avoid the Conception, it just worked out that way.)

The bunk room was just a place to crash overnight. Not a dealbreaker for me, but you feel differently.

 

[george_austin]

No emergency exit. Only way topside is narrow steep stairway that exits next to galley

Tragic

Untrue. There is at least one emergency exit from the berthing compartment to the

View attachment 538418

This is what the emergency hatch exits to.

So easy to climb out of....

Is this image of the Conception?

 

[roakey]

I just had a memory pop up that I haven't thought about in years...

Don't remember if it was on the Truth or the Conception, but there was a sicker on one of the head doors that read something like:

"Superior divers use their superior knowledge to keep out of situations that require their superior skills."

Nothing to do with theis tragedy, but it just came to mind...

Roak

 

[Louisville Diver]

Yes, I see many regulations being rewritten as they were obviously inadequate, however, to say that the CG signed off with a wink is over the top.

The vessel was in compliance. If the regulations need changing, that isn’t on the owner or crew.

You either never answered my question or I missed it - would you as a rating officer have signed off on and approved that configuration for the secondary hatch in good conscience?

 

[Wookie]

For the speed that flames can spread can be amazing. Have a little read up on the MGM fire back in 1980
MGM Grand fire - Wikipedia
The construction of the Deli (materials used, etc.) is probably very comparable with any dive boat. There are a lot of things that are different, but not that much. Foam seating, vinyl materials, wood, plastic...

All supposed to be fire retardant.

 

[Louisville Diver]

Untrue. There is at least one emergency exit from the berthing compartment to the


Is this image of the Conception?

That's what was reported to me, and confirmed by more than one poster here.