Post-Conception Disaster: what you learned & will change

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No apology needed; you were on point and concise. Appreciate the summary.

Of course, I appreciate you all having this conversation.

 

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I pray to Allah to give solace and patience to the survivors, the victims' families, their friends and loved ones of this horrific tragedy.

Thank you, that is much appreciated.

 

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I should also mention that Boylan spent only a few hours in “jail” at the federal courthouse. He turned himself in shortly before the hearing. Boylan’s bail was a $250,000 property bond put up by Hauser who’s the founder of Truth Aquatics, not the current owner. Hauser I guess designed the boats. Boylan’s attorney asked that the judge not require him to check in with probation because it was too far (30 miles from his house) and didn’t want to risk his safety due to Covid and his age, that was granted. Most family members wouldn’t post their home on the line, gotta ask myself why he did. Here is a not so known situation from many years ago involving Truth Aquatics as well, during the Hauser time.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.la...-xpm-1987-11-26-ve-24739-story.html?_amp=true

 

[Manatee Diver]

However, one of the crew who gave a witness statement said that there were power strips linked to other power strips with a lot of equipment.

Well this really sounds like even more like an overloaded circuit and not a lithium battery fire. I'm not sure how much you've read this thread, but a lot of people speculated that it was caused by a lithium battery catching fire. With some extreme opinions, like we shouldn't be allowed to charge batteries or even for the most extreme even take lithium batteries on boats. And while I'm not against making reasonable improvements for the possibilities that it was a lithium battery life, like with a fireproof charging cabinet. It sounds more like this was an overloaded circuit or possibly a surge protected power strip, which are known to cause fires on marine power systems (cruise ships will confiscate power strips if found during the bag search). A fireproof charging cabinet would also likely deal with that issue, as I would imagine that it would have it's own breaker wired directly to the panel, and built in reasonable capacity power strip.

 

[rjack321]

This sounds less like the lithium battery fire and more like an overloaded circuit or a surge protector being used on a marine power system.

Most light, strobe and camera chargers draw only a few watts. The limitation often ends up being the number of plugs. A single 15 amp outlet can handle charging 20 HIDs or 30 sets of strobe batteries, but there are rarely enough plugs - having 6 power strips daisy chained together is not good but its not necessarily indicative of an overloaded circuit when each charger is only drawing 25-30watts.

 

[living4experiences]

Thank you for sharing those details. You have my deepest sympathy for your loss. I just can't imagine the horror you and all the family and friends of the victims have been living through. Having been on three liveaboards since this tragedy, I can tell you that the industry is paying attention and gives specific instructions about charging devices, i.e., where to charge (camera station), where not to charge (your room).

 

[scubadada]

From the Undercurrent online update, February 28, 2021

Conception Tragedy Update. Agreeing with seven recommendations suggested by the National Transportation Safety Board stemming from the 2019 liveaboard fire that killed 34 people off the coast of California, the U.S. Coast Guard will issue a series of safety reforms for commercial vessels, though it may take several years to enact them. They will require more comprehensive smoke detector systems, better safety management systems, upgraded emergency exits, and mandatory inspection checks on roving watches. The Sacramento Bee

Conception Captain Pleads Not Guilty. Jerry Boylan, the captain of the ill-fated liveaboard Conception, was arraigned in federal court in Los Angeles on 34 counts of seaman's manslaughter. Each count carries a possible 10-year prison term. The government alleges that Boylan failed to follow safety rules before the fire broke out on September 2, 2019, which led to one of the deadliest maritime disasters in recent U.S. history. The charges against Boylan were brought under a pre-Civil War law designed to hold steamboat captains and crew -- but not the owners -- responsible for such maritime disasters. Boylan pleaded Not Guilty. The families of 32 victims have filed claims against boat owners Glen and Dana Fritzler and their company, Truth Aquatics of Santa Barbara. VC Star

 

[NAUI Wowie]

Supporting a company that has such a record is incomprehensible to me.

Well one thing id say to you as someone who has done the exact same trip on that boat with that captain a year before the event, their record was impeccable prior to this catastrophic trajedy. They had zero issues and always passed every inspection. So im not sure what you are trying to say about "such a record" it was 30 years of perfect record.

That said I dont think they will be in business much longer. And if they are I wont use them as they knew they were cutting safety corners. They knew this. They also had an event on a prior trip where a passenger found a similar fire in the wee hours of the morning and that event could have ended the same if the passenger hadnt been up and about.

 

[NAUI Wowie]

I will get back on the Truth Aquatics boats as soon as I can to support the company. The change for me is only in the urgency to support them.

You sound like a specific employee at a certain dive shop I use that stated the same thing. You are wrong in your beliefs in my opinion. They had a similar event on a previous trip and a passenger found the fire before it spread. The owner and all boat captains knew of this and chose to make zero changes. Even though they knew the risk.

Then it really happened and all died.

And you will use them again helping them out.

I didnt call you out when you said that out loud in my presence as I was thinking you were not aware of all circumstances. you are now. and there is no excuse for supporting them even though you have used them a hundred times possibly.

I really loved the crew and the captain and the boat myself when i took the exact same trip a year before the trajedy. The captain was an awesome guy. That will now spend the rest of his life in jail it seems.

It was the captains and the owners responsibility to keep those people alive. it could have been me and you on that boat and i know you will say oh well se la vie.

NO.

Letting it continue invites more. yea it may be another 30 years before it happens again but it will happen again if nothing changes.

and that was your argument that day in the shop when we all discussed it....you said the risks are infinitesimally small. In your own words of course.

NO.

it needs to be corrected. people need to pay for their mistakes.

 

[NAUI Wowie]

You all can do whatever you want; I’m going to support them.

See that I’m from Nor Cal, these people were not just random divers for us.

all the more reason for you to be pissed that they killed your diving acquaintances or dive shop customers. Im also from nor cal. That So Cal operation needs to pay for what they did. 34 people died.