Following safety rule may have saved boat passengers from fire, US investigators say

Following safety rule might have saved dive boat passengers from fire, US investigators say

The absence of a roving patrol aboard a 75-foot dive boat that caught fire off the coast of Santa Barbara last year violated U.S. Coast Guard regulations and directly led to the death of 34 people, federal investigators said Tuesday.

But the cause of the blaze that burned for nearly 2 hours without intervention remains unknown because little material remained from the boat's main and upper decks when the wreckage was recovered. Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board said Tuesday the ignition source could have been smoking materials that were improperly discharged in a bin on the main deck, a malfunction in the electrical system or the prolonged charging of battery-powered devices left unattended.

The 33 scuba divers and one crew member who were below deck when the Conception caught fire around 3 a.m. on Sept. 2, 2019 were likely awake while the fire burned but could not escape through the two emergency exits before succumbing to smoke inhalation, investigators said. The escape routes were a hatch above a bunk bed and a winding stairway. Both led to the salon area of the boat.

The fire went undetected for about 30 minutes because the five crew members asleep on the upper deck didn't follow U.S. Coast Guard regulations that required a crew member to patrol the boat at night, even though it was docked, the investigators said. The purpose of the patrol is to give alarm in case of man overboard or another dangerous situation.

All five crew members, including the captain, who slept above the lower decks, survived by jumping overboard and escaping to a nearby vessel docked on the shore of Platt's Harbor, 22 miles off the coast.

In 2018, batteries sparked a fire on a similar dive boat owned by Truth Aquatics, the dive tour company that owned the Conception, investigators said. But that blaze was quickly extinguished when roving crews were alerted to it.

Had one of the five crew members on the upper deck been patrolling the Conception when the blaze ignited, the 33 passengers and sole crew member below deck may have had a chance at escaping, the investigators said.

Federal prosecutors said they are considering manslaughter charges against the boat's captain, Jerry Boylan, who made a mayday call to the Coast Guard at 3:14 a.m. before escaping overboard, according to court documents first reported by The Associated Press.

If charges were filed, it would be the first time since 1991 that an owner, operator or charter of a boat has been issued a citation or criminally charged over failing to post a roving patrol, investigators said.

The families of four of the victims have argued in federal court filings that Truth Aquatics should be liable for civil penalties. The company is seeking to be exonerated from liability under maritime law. In the matter of the Complaint of Truth Aquatics, Inc. et al. for exoneration from limitation of liability, 2:19-cv-07693 (C.D. Cal. Filed Sept. 5, 2019).

-- Tyler Pialet