JumbleDuck
Well-known member
I've been in the skipper's cabin - below deck level and above the engine - in the VIC27. Similar setup. Eeek.
Dive boat fire - 30 trapped
- Thread starter dom
- Start date
I've been in the skipper's cabin - below deck level and above the engine - in the VIC27. Similar setup. Eeek.
anoccasionalyachtsman
Well-known member
I've read elsewhere (Sailing Anarchy) that there may have been a second escape hatch at the aft end of the compartment, maybe 600mm square and accessed from a top bunk. I've not seen where it would emerge, but I can't see that can be anywhere other than inside the accommodation above. (Someone posted a picture showing a hatch on the aft deck, but that's almost certainly down to the engine space.
It's also said that she was built of wood, cooking was all electric, that there was an explosion heard on the shore. The speculation is that dinghy fuel may have been the source..
It's also said that she was built of wood, cooking was all electric, that there was an explosion heard on the shore. The speculation is that dinghy fuel may have been the source..
PilotWolf
Well-known member
The LA Times is reporting boat was actually wooden construction, according to coastguard records - I wonder if it was later clad in GRP.
There is also a rumor now that it may have started near photography equipment which used Lion batteries - there is nothing to support this and IIRC the USCG doesn't allow them on passenger vessels.
It's also interesting that every one that has any knowledge of the company, crew and vessels has nothing but praise. From experience when something like this happens someone crawls out of the woodwork looking to make a name for themselves about how bad things were.
I also wonder if the design would be accepted to meet the construction requirements and CFRs of today. Th re are a lot of companies that have had their vessels Granfathered in with licensing as it would be impossible to make the vessel comply with the newer standards.
Also and this isn't meant to refer to any suspicions about this case but I've noticed an extreme range of experience of the coastguard guys who do the inspections. On the last inspection I was involved with one of th surveyors was 'getting signed off, I have a GMDSS radio licence - he had never seen one and it took a lot of convincing and googling to get him to believe it was a genuine licence. Others have been more like instructional visits on how to improve things and new ideas how to achieve the end result. This and again I'm in no way suggesting this happened at this company, allows for a lot of 'winging it' if that's the way the company chooses to operate.
The company were advertising for a Master and a Mate, and renewed the ad just the day before this happened, I had considered applying but they required the crew to be dive certified and I can barely stay afloat in the water let alone have the nerve to be under it.
W.
There is also a rumor now that it may have started near photography equipment which used Lion batteries - there is nothing to support this and IIRC the USCG doesn't allow them on passenger vessels.
It's also interesting that every one that has any knowledge of the company, crew and vessels has nothing but praise. From experience when something like this happens someone crawls out of the woodwork looking to make a name for themselves about how bad things were.
I also wonder if the design would be accepted to meet the construction requirements and CFRs of today. Th re are a lot of companies that have had their vessels Granfathered in with licensing as it would be impossible to make the vessel comply with the newer standards.
Also and this isn't meant to refer to any suspicions about this case but I've noticed an extreme range of experience of the coastguard guys who do the inspections. On the last inspection I was involved with one of th surveyors was 'getting signed off, I have a GMDSS radio licence - he had never seen one and it took a lot of convincing and googling to get him to believe it was a genuine licence. Others have been more like instructional visits on how to improve things and new ideas how to achieve the end result. This and again I'm in no way suggesting this happened at this company, allows for a lot of 'winging it' if that's the way the company chooses to operate.
The company were advertising for a Master and a Mate, and renewed the ad just the day before this happened, I had considered applying but they required the crew to be dive certified and I can barely stay afloat in the water let alone have the nerve to be under it.
W.
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JumbleDuck
Well-known member
That is what I saw in discussions elsewhere - fulsome praise, not a sniff of criticism.
PilotWolf
Well-known member
Giblets
Well-known member
"Content Not Available in Your Region" - UK
AlwaysLearning
New member
lw395
Well-known member
LiIon batteries are in everything.
I would imagine every dive boat is going to have several cameras, lights etc with Lithium batteries in of various sorts?
These things are normally pretty safe, there was a period when certain laptops had a habit of turning into flares, but that's a long time ago and very few people manage to set fire to batteries these days.
There have been instances involving using the wrong charger AIUI.
I would have concerns about chargers malfunctioning when used with an incompatible shipboard supply, such as from some inverters and generators.
capnsensible
Well-known member
Sadly these phone recharge packs seem to be prone to trouble. Just the other day one caught fir on a China Airlines flight. Fortunately in the cabin, not the hold and was quickly dealt with. Of course Im not suggesting that as the cause in this case but something else to be aware of on board.
scotty123
Well-known member
A comment about USCG when I was over there, was "they are all lake sailors".
PilotWolf
Well-known member
Not sure what you mean by that?
Don't forget the USCG is a military organization. That involves a lot of young and maybe naive 'members' doing what they've been told to and to the best of their ability with little practical knowledge and limited experience.
W.
scotty123
Well-known member
They mean't that there was little actual experience in a marine situation (the kindest way to explain local professional 'sailors' derogatory attitudes to this 'prestigious organisation').
PilotWolf
Well-known member
That was kind of my point BUT not at the fault of the frontline guys in what is pretty much an administive role, doing inspections. Their inexperience 'might' allow operators to pull the wool over their eyes - again I'm not suggesting this was the case here - if that suited the situation.
However look at what the crews are doing in the Bahamas for example to see that for the most part they ARE a very dedicated and prestigious organization. There are also the USCG Auxiliaries who are volunteers that support disaster operations and day to day tasks such as maintaining navaids, teaching safety and doing leisure boat 'inspections' to offer advice (I think the RNLI do or did something similar?), etc.
W.
scotty123
Well-known member
Well, my only experience of them, was to ask a bemedalled pair (outside West Marine), for information on local weather forecasts, before an Atlantic crossing. They were totally bewildered & dumbstruck, unable to offer any information at all.
lw395
Well-known member
I once got a very similar response from the UK coastguard, when I phoned up asking how I might find out what the fog coverage in the channel was.
PilotWolf
Well-known member
I would suggest that you'd get the same result if you asked two navy sailors or two MCA employees in the UK.
PW
kdot
New member
PilotWolf
Well-known member
Doesn't really say anything new.
The wreck has apparently been raised and removed to an undisclosed location. All the bodies have been recovered and identified - hopefully some closure for the families.
Local companies have been advised about training, LiOn batteries, charging and power strips - my last company will collapse without power strips!, as for crew training I won't even go there...
PW
The wreck has apparently been raised and removed to an undisclosed location. All the bodies have been recovered and identified - hopefully some closure for the families.
Local companies have been advised about training, LiOn batteries, charging and power strips - my last company will collapse without power strips!, as for crew training I won't even go there...
PW
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Seajet
...
The hotel barge I worked on in France - 1994 so hopefully things have changed - had
no safety briefing for passengers or crew
Definitely only one exit for passengers or we plebs in the front, same goes for hosties in the back
no lifejackets ( we were often on big wide rivers with a considerable current )
no liferaft
no flares
no VHF ( not many mobile phones then but another company did have one )
no fire extinguishers
no first aid ( I happened to have tickets which surprised the British skipper )
- we were often in the middle of nowhere, and the passengers were mostly late middle age to elderly
There was one lifering - I arranged with the skipper I'd grab it and jump in if a passenger went over the side.
This was a well funded highly thought of outfit, the owners were from a serious American nautical backgound.
I'm not saying ' American ' is relevant, just a detail.
When one considers the hoops a ' Coded ' boat owner has to jump through then looks at larger commercial outfits it's surprising sometimes how much money talks.
no safety briefing for passengers or crew
Definitely only one exit for passengers or we plebs in the front, same goes for hosties in the back
no lifejackets ( we were often on big wide rivers with a considerable current )
no liferaft
no flares
no VHF ( not many mobile phones then but another company did have one )
no fire extinguishers
no first aid ( I happened to have tickets which surprised the British skipper )
- we were often in the middle of nowhere, and the passengers were mostly late middle age to elderly
There was one lifering - I arranged with the skipper I'd grab it and jump in if a passenger went over the side.
This was a well funded highly thought of outfit, the owners were from a serious American nautical backgound.
I'm not saying ' American ' is relevant, just a detail.
When one considers the hoops a ' Coded ' boat owner has to jump through then looks at larger commercial outfits it's surprising sometimes how much money talks.
DownWest
Well-known member
Limited experience of USCG rules & regs. We had a brief honeymoon at the Tides Inn in the Chesapeake area (1991). One of the features was supposed to be their 90ft 1900s iron classic mobo that did crab fest runs round the bay of an evening. Well, when we got there, the USCG had just deemed that though residents were not charged for the trip (it was included in your stay) they considered it 'hire & reward' so the rules applied. The lovely wood interior was a fire risk, so no go.
The trips were done on an ugly GRP boat, which qualified. Thinking we would like a bit of sailing, we used a small centerboard dinghy for wandering. Out of the half dozen at the dock, there was only one that got close to being servicable. IMHO, it was dangerous, but in the circs, we made the best of it. The others were def a danger to any user. Where were the USCG on that? Or were you supposed to make your own assessment?
Spool forward a few years and a bunch of my US family rented the old tin boat off them for an evening cruise and dinner. Still the same lovely interior, but we had to stay above deck, apart from heads use. HUH? Naturally there was a sudden storm and we had to get the roll down plastic screens down about the deck houses. Crew were a bit disorganised on that one. The application of the rules seems a bit odd and the idea that the dive boat carried on on older assessment, when a newer boat would have failed....does not gell with the above.
The trips were done on an ugly GRP boat, which qualified. Thinking we would like a bit of sailing, we used a small centerboard dinghy for wandering. Out of the half dozen at the dock, there was only one that got close to being servicable. IMHO, it was dangerous, but in the circs, we made the best of it. The others were def a danger to any user. Where were the USCG on that? Or were you supposed to make your own assessment?
Spool forward a few years and a bunch of my US family rented the old tin boat off them for an evening cruise and dinner. Still the same lovely interior, but we had to stay above deck, apart from heads use. HUH? Naturally there was a sudden storm and we had to get the roll down plastic screens down about the deck houses. Crew were a bit disorganised on that one. The application of the rules seems a bit odd and the idea that the dive boat carried on on older assessment, when a newer boat would have failed....does not gell with the above.
