Fire on dive boat Conception in CA

[MMM]

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A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

More posts have been moved here: Legal considerations for the Fire on dive boat Conception in CA A reminder about the rules in this forum: it is to find ways to prevent an accident or incident, not to play the role of lawyer, judge or jury. That is for another forum. Marg, SB Senior Moderator.

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[Jim Rose]

It seems the only thing that is missing is the cause of the fire. The heat from the fire must have heated the pressurized tanks to explode and all hell broke loose. The media is so fkng dumb, as usual,

 

[Wookie]

The height depends on the intact stability and other things. Mine were 6” for a coastwise vessel, ABS wanted 12” for an international voyage, we calculated in the camber of the deck And how fast water sheds and settled at 9”.

Hatches on the weather deck are supposed to have a raised combing around them to minimize water leakage in bad weather. Like at least 18 inches. Not sure that applies to this kind of vessel as licensed.

But I also had escape hatches that were flush.

 

[Louisville Diver]

I did answer it, in the affirmative, as I did when I owned similar liveaboards.

Good to know. I’ll be certain to assiduously avoid all California LOBs and will confine my spending to Caribbean, Australian and Indonesian sailings.

 

[EricTheDood]

This thread has become extremely depressing and I hope the moderators will shut it down. Truth Aquatics runs an excellent operation and all the armchair quarterbacks who have probably never dove with them before are saying some ugly things.

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

True, we don't have all the facts. But these are the facts that really matter:

1. There was a fire
2. Nobody below deck survived

What's particularly frightening is knowing, in hindsight, how easily this accident could happen again, due the all the probable sources of fire, and the fact that there are many dive boats with similar deck configurations in operation.

 

[Wookie]

Good to know. I’ll be certain to assiduously avoid all California LOBs and will confine my spending to Caribbean, Australian and Indonesian sailings.

Remember, other boats have surveyors from other jurisdictions who will sign off the boat for a night in a hotel, a hooker, bottle of rum, and $850 cash. I have attended such a survey on more that one well known Caribbean liveaboard. And try to find a Belizian flagged liveaboard any more. Our system may not suit you, but it’s better than most others.

 

[markmud]

Generically, or statistically, dryer vents are the #1 source of ignition on boats. I wouldn't think this boat had a below deck dryer.

Wookie,

It did when I was onboard. It was in the lazerette (sp).

markm

 

[DreadnoughtNH]

Moderators, please kill this thread. It’s going nowhere other than for armchair experts to puff their chests and claim to be the authority on facts that are not fully in yet.

THIS. ISN’T. ABOUT. YOU.

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A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

Special Rules for the Accidents & Incidents Forum

The purpose of this forum is the promotion of safe diving through the examination and discussion of accidents and incidents; to find lessons we can apply to our own diving.

• As always, you should use the report button rather than bicker about possible infractions in the thread.

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[rjack321]

Good to know. I’ll be certain to assiduously avoid all California LOBs and will confine my spending to Caribbean, Australian and Indonesian sailings.

Indonesia? Of all the places why would you consider their vessel safety record as good or better than California? (or other USA based vessels).

They capsize with massive loss of life
Why are ferry accidents common in Indonesia? | DW | 26.06.2018

They burn too
Deadly fire engulfs Indonesian tourist ferry | DW | 01.01.2017

 

[drrich2]

Since we're trying to learn something of value going forward from this awful tragedy, and it seems having an efficient, well-known 2nd exit path from any below-deck housing (this may effect more than is obvious; when I did live-aboards, I seldom thought about where crew bunked, and their safety is important, too).

For sake of argument, let's stay a big hatch at the opposite end of the 'bunk house' from the main ladder exit is agreed upon as a great idea.

I don't know how costly in time, labor and money it is to alter a large dive boat to meet such a standard. Anyone got a rough estimate?

Richard.

P.S.: I also wonder just how the risk of this event recurring compares to other risks. On a typical dive deck we get around lots of tanks with tremendous gas pressures compressed into them. Tanks can fail, sometimes a geared-up tank falls valve first, etc...