Fire on dive boat Conception in CA

[DavidFL]

The Captain has discretion in choosing the crew, assigning the crew, understanding the strengths and weaknesses of crew members.

 

[cerich]

This could be, But years back me and a group of friends (15) chartered a 65" boat. What a disaster that was. Two the bunks couldn't be used due to hydraulic fluid from the steering lines leaking all over them. One of the diesels was leaking oil so bad that the crew actually used a 1 gallon milk carton with the top cut off to scoop the oil out of the bilge and pour it back into the engine. (I kid you not) During the night while we were at anchor my friend had gotten seasick (I believe part of it was do to how strong the diesel fuel smell was in the bunk room). So I hung out with him in the dining/ salon area watching movies. It was about 2:30 am that we got a strong smell of marijuana. We walk up to the bridge to find the captain and one of the crew smoking weed. The next morning no crew is around. The galley didn't open untill 9:30 am. So now are all getting ready. All of a sudden a large black oil slick is being produced from the starboard side bilge port. We hear the captain's voice on the PA stating please hold on this is not not a good spot and we're going to move to a better one. Fast forward we're on our way back to port in the dark and again we smell marijuana. Crew members were running up to take hits from the Captain. At one point heading into the breakwater the boat was on the wrong side of the navigational buoys and needed to make an aggressive maneuver to avoid hitting another boat.
Next day I contacted the charter company and was advised to talk to the owner. So after no luck leaving multiple messages over a week the owner never contacted me. I once again contacted the charter company who informed me that they had spoken to the owner and the owner had heard my messages and was informed on what happened. The fact that he did not call me back the charter company advised me to contact the harbormaster. The harbormaster strongly advise me to contact the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard told me that these were serious charges and that an investigation would need to be open. They interviewed everyone on the passengers list as well as the Captain and crew. They drug tested the Captain and crew. In the end the Captain lost his license. Action was taken against the owner for the unsafe conditions that existed on the boat. The owner was fined and the operation of the vessel was suspended until all violations were corrected. The thing here is that one of the violations was not having a crew member on watch. The crewman that we witnessed on watch was disqualified by the Coast Guard as someone on watch due to the use of drugs and the Coast Guard's zero tolerance rule.
Weeks later the owner calls me yelling and screaming at me telling me that I've ruined the life of a career captain. That he was going to sue me for the loss of business. I told him to go ahead give it a try that it was his fault that it escalated to this point. A simple phone call in the beginning could've stopped this from happening.
A follow up call from the Coast Guard investigator thanking me for being proactive in the situation and possibly preventing something worse from happening was nice to hear. I explained to him that the owner called me and our conversation. The investigator told me that I did the right thing and with the violations that they have discovered the owner didn't stand a chance in court. And if it was ever to go to court to give him a call and I would receive the full backing of the United States Coast Guard.
Sorry it was long.

Well done.

 

[bigDave]

Question I have not seen addressed - what kind of firefighting equipment was on the Conception? I have seen photos with a couple of fire extinguishers, and a photo of a locker.

I know in this case it was hopeless once discovered, but again just curious about what tools were there to fight fires.

David

 

[vlxjim]

Question I have not seen addressed - what kind of firefighting equipment was on the Conception? I have seen photos with a couple of fire extinguishers, and a photo of a locker.

I know in this case it was hopeless once discovered, but again just curious about what tools were there to fight fires.

David

One pump and two 1 1/2" hoses. Port and starboard side at the rear of the main deck dinning cabin.

Page 2 of the OCI link below.
https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/...5f54/conception-certificate-of-inspection.pdf

 

[Akimbo]

B. Watchstander has been ordered to stand watch by captain and after all others are asleep says screw this and deliberately abandons duty and goes to bed.

This scenario is pretty remote because each watch stander wakes the next one up to relieve them. It would be pretty hard to explain and there is no doubt such a job-ending decision will be discovered. It is unlikely that you would get canned by telling the captain or mate that you just can't stay awake, even in the military unless you made a habit of it.

 

[broncobowsher]

200 pounds of CO2 for the engine room. Don't want to be in there if that goes off.

But the fire hoses, what powered them? Was that off the APU, main engine?

 

[EricTheDood]

A night watchman is a backup, not a replacement for smoke detectors.

Five crewmen, all asleep, as the sole survivors, makes for big headlines. But for those of us who actually go on boats, we want working smoke detectors, and backups of smoke detectors.

 

[RockiesFan]

Had it been definitively established that all crew were asleep or is it media conjecture?

 

[tursiops]

Had it been definitively established that all crew were asleep or is it media conjecture?

That statement is from the NTSB, not the media.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

They stated that it is based on the interviews of three of the five survivors. The report also said there may be errors. I'm not going to jump on the blame bandwagon just yet.