Fire on dive boat Conception in CA

[NAUI Wowie]

FYI...….A little history -- Truth Aquatics

This is just one in a series of tragedies that the Truth Aquatics has been involved.

Event #One
The first one was when the "original" Truth which went aground. It was later destroyed by wave action before it could be salvaged, The few items that were salvaged and in condition to be used to construct the "New Truth" aka "Truth" was the diesel engine and a few miscellaneous items.

Upon completion of the "New Truth" a newer bigger boat the "Conception" was created (Concept ?)

All this occurred under the direction of the late great highly respected hot charter boat Captain Roy Hauser.

Event #Two
Some how, some way, no one knows how. but artificial reefs constructed of toilet bowls began appearing on reefs beyond normal sports diving depths at a number of hot dive locations in my beloved Orange County, LA County and at the Channel Islands. For a select few divers they became a private lobster market, always insuring a limit of then 10 bugs on a very short bounce dive.

On one such 175 foot dive things went horribly wrong for Roy Hauser and despite the immediate and heroic efforts of the crew and those on board Roy was irreversibly bent and sent the remainder of his long life confined to a wheel chair.

However he remained involved as the founder and driving force of the Truth Aquatics for many years

Event # Three
The current fire
Via con Dios bussos, Amigos mi

Sam Miller, 111

I suspect we can expect some major changes in dive boat charted procedures and construction both locally , nationally and internationally -- It is coming !
sdm

Wasnt that first event when the ship ran aground actually a person broke into the ship and hijacked it with no one on board? It was a stolen boat yes?

 

[Mindless]

That big a boat has to be an inspected vessel. I'm kind of in shock how this could happen.

Coast Guard said it was in full compliance.

I've done my share of diving with Truth Aquatics, but it's been a few years so I can't speak to current conditions but in my experience the boats were always well-maintained. Those boats have a lot of smoke and fire detectors and a crew member would (or should) have been on anchor watch, so I'll be curious to see what series of events prevented the passengers from receiving or being able to respond to an early warning and escape.

I won't speculate, but I will be following the investigation closely.

 

[broncobowsher]

FYI...….A little history -- Truth Aquatics

This is just one in a series of tragedies that the Truth Aquatics has been involved.

Event #One
The first one was when the "original" Truth which went aground. It was later destroyed by wave action before it could be salvaged, The few items that were salvaged and in condition to be used to construct the "New Truth" aka "Truth" was the diesel engine and a few miscellaneous items.

Upon completion of the "New Truth" a newer bigger boat the "Conception" was created (Concept ?)

All this occurred under the direction of the late great highly respected hot charter boat Captain Roy Hauser.

Event #Two
Some how, some way, no one knows how. but artificial reefs constructed of toilet bowls began appearing on reefs beyond normal sports diving depths at a number of hot dive locations in my beloved Orange County, LA County and at the Channel Islands. For a select few divers they became a private lobster market, always insuring a limit of then 10 bugs on a very short bounce dive.

On one such 175 foot dive things went horribly wrong for Roy Hauser and despite the immediate and heroic efforts of the crew and those on board Roy was irreversibly bent and sent the remainder of his long life confined to a wheel chair.

However he remained involved as the founder and driving force of the Truth Aquatics for many years

Event # Three
The current fire
Via con Dios bussos, Amigos mi

Sam Miller, 111

I suspect we can expect some major changes in dive boat charted procedures and construction both locally , nationally and internationally -- It is coming !
sdm

Could you please put a time line with that?
The way it is presented it sounds like these are all recent activities. I know all 3 boats have been around since at least the late 90's. And some of the SoCal dive boats have been around since the 60's. In the 2+ decades I have been out west I have not heard of any of the accidents with these boats.
An accident, by a former owner decades ago, is little more than a footnote and not really relevant to the current conditions.

 

[outofofficebrb]

I was on the Conception in November 2016. The hatch from the guest area leads you right up to main galley area.

Iy was reported that one of the crew said it was a propane explosion which would suggest it was in the galley where the main stairs are.

If both the main stairway and the emergency exit goes to the main galley area and if an explosion or fire did occur in the galley, that would have essentially trapped everyone below decks, assuming they even woke up and were trying to get out. That would have also prevented the crew from entering the galley to go down the hatch or stairs to try and wake people up to get them to abandon. This is so awful. My heart is so heavy.

 

[Marie13]

Fox News is now reporting 4 bodies have been recovered.

 

[NAUI Wowie]

Brief story on this morning.

More than 30 people were unaccounted for Monday morning after a deadly boat fire off the coast of Southern California. The Ventura County Fire Department told CBS News that there were fatalities, but officials didn't know the exact number.

The fire department said five people had been rescued and 34 people were unaccounted for.

The U.S. Coast Guard said it launched several boats to help more than 30 people "in distress." Tweets from the Coast Guard in Los Angeles said there were reports the people were on a boat that was on fire near Santa Cruz Island.

As others have said, I also have dove on the conception, last year a 3 day trip. I can say that if it was a propane explosion in the galley at 3 a.m. that would eliminate the main exit point. It is a very steep stairway straight up from the bunk area. people would have had to climb up through flames to escape. I at this point don't recall the escape hatch in rear of bunk area and waking up at 3 am with smoke and fire coming down from the main exit up point well....I think it would be instant panic survival mode. Do you remember much at that point I don't believe so. Also when i went it was 24 divers approx. with 34 divers it would have been very confined. Did it feel claustrophobic or small below? No its not. But with that many people in an emergency it would be hard just to get everyone out even without a fire.

I am or I was going next month on a 3 day truth aquatics trip on I think their largest boat. I am guessing thats now cancelled.

I never felt like this boat was unsafe except on the trip back from channel islands when waves higher than the conception were needed to be taken head on again and again. I have video of waves higher than the ship coming at us and the ship going side to side like a top on a table and kitchen ware flying around.

The crew said that trip I was on had the largest waves they had ever experienced.

 

[markmud]

Iy was reported that one of the crew said it was a propane explosion which would suggest it was in the galley where the main stairs are.

Hi SoccerDad,

The galleys on Truth Aquatics boats are all electric as I recall. The propane was used for the outdoor barbecue system on the dive deck. The USCG has very strict rules for propane and other fuels that have a low flash point on inspected passenger vessels. The COI would not be reissued by the USCG if that barbecue system was not rigged correctly.

I SERIOUSLY DOUBT THAT THE USCG ALLOWS AN INSPECTED PASSENGER VESSEL TO HAVE AN ENCLOSED PROPANE FUELED GALLEY. A propane fired barbecue system in an outdoor area that is directly ventilated to the atmosphere is one thing, an enclosed galley is quite different.

As I recall, the USCG requires an automatic fire suppression system in the galley and I believe Conception had one.

The propane tank would not explode by itself. If punctured, it would BLEVY (shoot fire like a jet engine until the mixture was between LEL and UEL (Lower Explosive Limit and Upper Explosive Limit). In the case of a propane tank, that did not have an external detonation device or other catastrophic scenario, the mixture inside is too rich for it to explode.

If the propane system caught fire back aft, the passengers should have been able to escape via the bow egress route.

Conception was a plywood and fiberglass vessel. The fire would have spread quickly. The passengers would have needed to escape in an orderly and deliberate way.

NOTE: Everything that I have written is conjecture based on my maritime training and my trips as a passenger on Truth Aquatics Boats.

My weekend is ruined.

markm

 

[azstinger11]

Just some info about the previous beaching incident. The first link also has one of the first in daylight photos I've seen of the burned remains of the boat (no human remains visible).

Conception - WikiName

Boat stolen in S.B. beached at VAFB


Edit: Reading the bottom of the wiki article, looks like they had a quote from the founder Roy Hauser

Hauser wondered whether something electrical could have sparked the blaze given that it happened in the dead of night. “The galley wouldn't be open at that hour... The generator is running all the time. There'd be no cooking activity at 4 o’clock in the morning. The crew only starts getting everything ready at 5:30 in the morning.”

 

[covediver]

A tragedy. Spent many a fine hour on tbose boats. Out of respect for the victims, could we avoid speculation about cause, etc, until recovery is complete?

 

[Gdog]

I am also stunned and shocked. We dove off the Conception August 2017, Santa Cruz Island. Crew were capable, boat was sound, we were briefed the next morning before the first dive. Was considering another trip with my son on this boat. I feel crushed for the families, and for the employees, especially the crew members who managed to survive. Watching people you had come to know a bit die in a burning boat while you survive would be an entirely cruel level of anguish that I cannot imagine. Following this story closely.