The Mystery Of The Burning Dive Boat

On September 2, 2019, a 75-foot dive boat, the MV Conception, caught fire and sank off the coast of Santa Cruz Island, California, killing 34 people. The boat was anchored overnight with 33 passengers and six crew members on board. The fire broke out shortly after 3 a.m., trapping the passengers below deck. While the five crew members who had been sleeping on the upper deck managed to escape, everyone else on board perished. The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but officials have vowed to find out what sparked the inferno.

The boat was a 75-foot dive boat called the Conception

The Conception was a popular choice for dive trips, offering live-aboard trips to the Channel Islands National Park. It had a capacity of 46 people, with 13 double-berth bunk rooms and one single-berth bunk room. The boat also featured a spacious salon, a galley, and a sun deck. The salon was a common area for divers to relax, socialise, and review footage of their dives. It was equipped with a large TV, tables, and comfortable seating.

The galley, or kitchen, was located at the back of the main deck and was where the passengers' meals were prepared. The sun deck, as the name suggests, was an open area at the top of the boat where divers could sunbathe, relax, and take in the stunning views of the Pacific Ocean and the Channel Islands. This area also served as the entry and exit point for divers, with a ladder leading down to the water.

The boat departed on a three-day diving trip to the Channel Islands on Saturday, with 39 people on board, including six crew members. It is believed that the fire started in the early hours of Monday morning, while the boat was anchored just off Santa Cruz Island. The cause of the fire is currently under investigation, but early reports suggest it may have been an accident related to the charging of lithium-ion batteries.

The fire started on the main deck and spread to the upper deck

The fire started on the main deck of the Conception, a 75-foot dive boat, and spread to the upper deck, trapping 34 people below. The boat was anchored in Platts Harbor, off the coast of Santa Cruz Island, California, with 33 passengers and six crew members on board.

The second galleyhand, who was sleeping on the upper deck, woke up to the sound of a pop and discovered an uncontrollable fire on the main deck below. The fire had already spread to the aft end of the upper deck and was blocking the way to the main deck, as the aft ladder was engulfed in flames. The galleyhand alerted the rest of the crew, and two mayday calls were placed at approximately 3:14 am.

The crew members that had been sleeping on the upper deck jumped down to the main deck, with one breaking his leg in the process. They attempted to access the main deck cabin through the center window, but it could not be opened, and they were met with thick smoke. The flames prevented the crew from accessing the salon along the exterior walkways, and they were forced to abandon ship by jumping overboard.

The fire blocked both a stairway and an emergency exit hatch, trapping the 33 passengers and one crew member below deck. All 34 people in the bunkroom died, with the cause of death determined to be smoke inhalation. The fire burned to the waterline of the hull, and the boat eventually sank stern-first about four hours after the fire broke out.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but it is believed to have started in the aft part of the salon, potentially due to electrical distribution issues, unattended battery charging, or improperly discarded smoking materials.

34 passengers and 1 crew member died

On September 2, 2019, a fire broke out on the 75-foot dive boat Conception, killing 33 passengers and one crew member. The boat was docked off Santa Cruz Island, California, for a chartered three-day diving trip over the Labor Day weekend.

The victims were sleeping in the bunk room on the lower deck when the fire occurred. The five surviving crew members, including the captain, Jerry Nehl Boylan, were asleep in the crew quarters on the upper deck and managed to escape. Boylan was indicted on 34 counts of seaman's manslaughter due to misconduct and negligence, including the failure to have a night watch or conduct sufficient fire drills and crew training.

The fire blocked the one stairway and an emergency exit hatch leading to the bunk room, trapping the passengers and crew member inside. The crew attempted to alert the passengers and reach them through the inferno, but they were unsuccessful. The Coast Guard was called at around 3:14 a.m., and a search-and-rescue operation was conducted, but all 34 victims were presumed dead.

The cause of the fire was not immediately determined, but investigators believed it started on the aft deck, where passengers were recharging their electronic devices. The boat's age and size meant it was not subject to regulations requiring fire-resistant materials, fire sprinklers, and smoke detectors wired into the ship's electronics. However, there were smoke detectors on the Conception, and it is unclear if any alarms sounded before the fire was discovered.

The tragedy led to calls for improved safety regulations for small passenger vessels, including stricter requirements for smoke detectors, better-designed escape routes, and the implementation of safety management systems.

The captain, Jerry Boylan, was found guilty of seaman's manslaughter

The captain of the dive boat that burned, Jerry Boylan, was found guilty of seaman's manslaughter in November 2023. The fire, which occurred in September 2019, killed 34 people, including 33 passengers and one crew member. Boylan was indicted on 34 counts of seaman's manslaughter, with the indictment citing three specific safety violations: failing to have a night watch or roving patrol, failing to conduct sufficient fire drills, and failing to conduct sufficient crew training.

The boat, named the Conception, was a 75-foot, wood-and-fiberglass passenger vessel that docked in Santa Barbara Harbor. It was on a three-day scuba diving excursion around the Channel Islands, located off the coast of Southern California. During the early morning of September 2, 2019, a fire broke out while the boat was anchored near Santa Cruz Island. The fire engulfed the boat and led to its sinking, with 34 people trapped and sleeping below deck.

Boylan was found guilty of one count of misconduct or neglect of ship officer, colloquially known as seaman's manslaughter. This charge is a pre-Civil War statute designed to hold steamboat captains and crew responsible for maritime disasters. He was sentenced to four years in prison and three years of supervised release for his criminal negligence.

The verdict in the case came after a lengthy investigation and trial process. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) launched an investigation shortly after the accident, and while they were not able to determine the definitive cause of the fire, they believed it likely originated in the aft part of the salon. The NTSB also concluded that the probable cause of the accident was the failure of the boat company, Truth Aquatics, to provide effective oversight of its vessel and crew member operations.

The families of the victims have expressed mixed reactions to the sentencing, with some feeling relieved that there is finally accountability, while others are disappointed that Boylan did not receive a longer sentence. Several civil lawsuits are still ongoing, filed against both Truth Aquatics and the Coast Guard for alleged lax enforcement of safety regulations.

The boat's owner, Glen Fritzler, sold his remaining vessels

The boats' owner, Glen Fritzler, sold his remaining vessels, Vision and Truth, to Channel Islands Expeditions, which intends to operate the boats in the waters off the Channel Islands and elsewhere in California. The newly formed company's fleet operation officer, Joel Mulder, said that Fritzler and his family would not be involved in the new venture. Mulder also said that they were "making all the safety improvements in preparation, and we're working with the Coast Guard."

Fritzler sold the boats amid a flurry of wrongful death lawsuits filed by families of the 34 people who died in the fire aboard the Conception dive boat. The lawsuits allege that Fritzler and his company, Truth Aquatics Inc., were responsible for the deaths due to a lack of oversight and failure to ensure safety measures, such as training the crew, conducting fire drills, and having a roving night watchman.

While Fritzler and Truth Aquatics have not been charged with a crime, they are facing significant legal repercussions. In addition to the lawsuits, Truth Aquatics initially sued in federal court to limit its liability concerning payouts to the families of the victims. However, they later agreed to pause that lawsuit to allow the families' lawsuits to proceed in Los Angeles Superior Court. Ultimately, a federal judge will decide whether the company's liability can be limited under maritime law.

The Conception boat fire occurred on September 2, 2019, off the coast of Santa Cruz Island, California. The fire trapped 33 passengers and one crew member in the bunkroom below deck, resulting in their deaths due to smoke inhalation. The only exits, a stairwell and a small hatch, were blocked by flames. The five surviving crew members, whose sleeping quarters were on the top deck, escaped by jumping overboard and swimming to a nearby boat.

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