NTSB CONCEPTION HEARING - THIS TUESDAY @ 10AM

[Marie13]

The implication I got from the docket is that nobody on any of the truth boats could remember there ever being a night watch per the regs. The NTSB seemed suspicious that that this was a much bigger issue than those 3 boats given how Truth was considered to run a very safe op.

And hadn’t one of the Conception crew been on board for two years but hadn’t ever taken part in a fire drill? Or am I misremembering? There was a lot of info today.

 

[Wookie]

How much do you want to pay for a three day liveaboard in the US? Can you get 120 other people to pay say $1500 (or possible significantly more) so you can have a steel ship with decent compartmentalization, life boats, and a crew of mariners trained in advanced firefighting?

I couldn’t.

 

[Open Ocean Diver]

How much do you want to pay for a three day liveaboard in the US? Can you get 120 other people to pay say $1500 (or possible significantly more) so you can have a steel ship with decent compartmentalization, life boats, and a crew of mariners trained in advanced firefighting?

I have a sprinkler system in my condo, in my underground garage, certainly I could have one on a boat.

Sprinkler System : Automatic Fire Detection, Alarm and Extinguishing System on Ship

 

[chris kippax]

I have a sprinkler system in my condo, in my underground garage, certainly I could have one on a boat.

Sprinkler System : Automatic Fire Detection, Alarm and Extinguishing System on Ship

How do you stop it from electrocuting everyone?
Where does the water come from?
Water is not suitable for all fire types.
It is not that simple.

 

[KevinNM]

How do you stop it from electrocuting everyone?
Where does the water come from?
Water is not suitable for all fire types.
It is not that simple.

Fire Protection Engineering combined with Naval Architecture? Sounds complex.

But yeah, one thing about running a sprinkler on a boat means you are pouring water into the water tight compartments. And typically sea water, which is conductive and corrosion inducing. How long can you run that before interesting things happen to the ship, ship systems or it's stability? Assume this is going on in major seas with the ship rocking. How does the moving free surface of the fire fighting water impact stability as it slams from side to side or front to back in that compartment? When does it become unstable and capsize?

 

[rjack321]

I don't necessarily disagree, but shouldn't there have been some record of the roving watch, that would/should have been reviewed by the owner?

My local 7-11 has a record on the inside of the door when the bathroom was cleaned. If 7-11 can do it, the roving night watch on a charter can do something to document what they are doing.

 

[rjack321]

I have a sprinkler system in my condo, in my underground garage, certainly I could have one on a boat.

Sprinkler System : Automatic Fire Detection, Alarm and Extinguishing System on Ship

If this activated the boat may very well sink and take everyone with it.
Its not that simple

 

[Gotem]

You guys see this? Sorry if it’s a repost.

 

[Mike Walker]

I'm guessing this was implemented post-Conception (I observed it a month ago on a trip):

Nautilus Explorer has, directly over the camera table on the dive deck, two large-ish capacity extinguishers mounted upside down with thermal triggered sprinkler heads inserted into them (upon quick glance was similar to star type commonly seen in buildings).
I did not look into the details of extinguisher type, etc. Presumably they put some thought into it.
Not directly supervised charging only permitted on deck on a mostly metal table and directly below an automated suppression system.
Seemed a very simple, relatively cheap and logical solution to the eyes of a layman. (and easy to comply with)
I'm sure there's a fire sprinkler desinger/engineer on here who could comment more specifically on potential effectiveness?
I think there was a hose hookup for supplemental water on to the area as well. And the deck fire hose was 10' away.

It might not be as hard/expensive as the discussion above is pondering?
Someone has, at least, taken a shot at it in the real world.

 

[Shasta_man]

I'll post the NPR.org version of the story just because it includes a little more info about findings and also because of the picture of the boat laid out by the NTSB: that picture is a stark reminder of what can happen in a fire on the water.

Hopefully all liveaboards of any size realize they need to abide by the rule, and common sense, of having a night watchman awake. I speculate having that would have either ended like the fire previously discovered on the Vision or with less loss of life.

I'll also mention I don't leave the phones and tablet charging unattended at night anymore.

Safety Board Blames California Diving Boat's Owner For Fire That Killed 34