Dive boat fire - 30 trapped

[PilotWolf]

Latest on the news here.

Conception Boat Fire: Vessel Owner Suspends All Operations Amid Investigation
http://on.ktla.com/5Mofk

If the chef felt it was that bad why did he stay? I made huge fuss over safety issues at my previous compmay and it ultimately cost me my job but at least I know my concerns are on rocked.

PW

 

[Iliade]

"sorry this content is not available in your region"
Perhaps you could 'cut and paraphraste' for us limeys please?

 

[dom]

Reuters story here: https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-c...t-killing-34-suspend-operations-idUKKBN1WG4VM

The dive company appears to have ceased operations, apparently after coming under sustained pressure. And another reference to the dangers of lithium ion batts and chargers.

 

[JumbleDuck]

"sorry this content is not available in your region"
Perhaps you could 'cut and paraphraste' for us limeys please?

I think the same story is at https://www.latimes.com/california/...r-suspends-all-operations-amid-investigations. Same headline, anyway.

 

[PilotWolf]

I think the same story is at https://www.latimes.com/california/...r-suspends-all-operations-amid-investigations. Same headline, anyway.

Not sure why there is all this unavailable news in different counties but anyway.


Truth Aquatics Suspends Operations Amid Conception Boat Fire Investigion
>
The owner of a scuba diving boat company announced Tuesday a voluntary indefinite suspension of its fleet in the wake of the Conception boat fire off the Santa Barbara coast that killed 34 people.

Truth Aquatics Inc. posted on its Facebook page that the company will "dedicate our entire efforts to make our boats models of new regulations" in collaboration with the Coast Guard and the National Transportation Safety Board.

Federal authorities are investigating the Sept. 2 fire aboard the Conception in ongoing criminal and safety inquiries. Investigators concluded their examination of the vessel Friday in Port Hueneme, a naval base northwest of Los Angeles, without determining the blaze's cause . However, pieces of the boat have been sent to labs for additional testing as officials pore through hundreds of documents seized from Truth Aquatics' office in Santa Barbara.

While NTSB member Jennifer Homendy has expressed concern about the Conception's escape hatch, Coast Guard records show the boat passed its two most recent inspections with no safety violations. Authorities have said, however, all six crew members were asleep when the pre-dawn fire started — even though Coast Guard regulations require a "roving" night watch.

Thirty-three passengers and one crew member were trapped below deck and died during the three-day scuba diving excursion of the Channel Islands.

The company's Facebook post states customers have been requesting tours since the fire and the owners appreciate the support. The company's two other boats have not returned to sea since the disaster last month.

Meanwhile, the owners, the Fritzler family, preemptively filed a federal lawsuit under a pre-Civil War maritime law that shields boat owners from monetary damages in a disaster at sea. Separately, Ryan Sims, a cook on the vessel who broke his leg trying to escape the flames, claimed in his own lawsuit that the boat was unseaworthy and operated in an unsafe manner.

Members of the diving community have rallied around Truth Aquatics and the Fritzlers. Some have created a private Facebook group called "We Support Truth Aquatics," which has nearly 200 members, and a GoFundMe fundraiser has accumulated more than $18,000 to aid the company's crew members who are now out of work due to the suspension of the fleet.

The Divers Alert Network has separately raised more than $197,000 for the families of the victims.


W.

 

[Kukri]

«*....the owners, the Fritzler family, preemptively filed a federal lawsuit under a pre-Civil War maritime law that shields boat owners from monetary damages in a disaster at sea. Separately, Ryan Sims, a cook on the vessel who broke his leg trying to escape the flames, claimed in his own lawsuit that the boat was unseaworthy and operated in an unsafe manner...*»


Normal stuff. The owners, or to be more accurate the owners’ insurers, are seeking to establish a limitation fund and the claimants are seeking to break limitation. In the States the limitation fund is the value of the vessel; we do it differently *here in Europe.

It takes a brave or a foolish man to practice marine insurance in the States. Don’t ask me how I know this.

 

[PilotWolf]

Thre is an active thread onGCaptain about this.

What really worries me is the company I worked for had the same attitude this company had - but carrying over a million passengers a year... It hasn't happened so won't - wouldn't accept the stastics that evey day it dosnt increases the likelihood it will.

Bit typist so not going there any more than that.

PW.

 

[kaj]

Captain indicted, LA Times

 

[dom]

Captain indicted, LA Times

Tks for link:

As the details emerge, this case becomes all the more sad and shocking in equal measure

 

[DownWest]

Tks for link:

As the details emerge, this case becomes all the more sad and shocking in equal measure

The bit that stands out, is that they passed inspections, but those inspections did not highlight the difficulty of getting out of the crowded guest quarters . It was a basic navy style bunk space. Smoke alarms??

 

[dom]

The bit that stands out, is that they passed inspections, but those inspections did not highlight the difficulty of getting out of the crowded guest quarters . It was a basic navy style bunk space. Smoke alarms??

Tragic and unbelievable -- guess the truth will come out now.

 

[Graham376]

Seems like another lithium battery fire.

 

[DownWest]

Tragic and unbelievable -- guess the truth will come out now.

Dom, I think the truth is already out there. This boat was not up to safety standards re: getting out. I have delt with a fire in an aircraft hanger. The speed that things happen is startling. We got it sorted, but only just... and that was because we were on it in seconds. They(in the boat) were all asleep..
This fire was well going before it was noticed. If they had had the required 'roving deck watch' MAYBE it would have turned out better.

 

[dom]

Dom, I think the truth is already out there. This boat was not up to safety standards re: getting out. I have delt with a fire in an aircraft hanger. The speed that things happen is startling. We got it sorted, but only just... and that was because we were on it in seconds. They(in the boat) were all asleep..
This fire was well going before it was noticed. If they had had the required 'roving deck watch' MAYBE it would have turned out better.

You may be right, in which case I hope they throw the book at the owners too.

As for your aircraft hangar story, wow, sends shivers down one's spine just thinking about the possible Hollywood Scenarios!! ?

Credit to you all, wow! ?

 

[DownWest]

You may be right, in which case I hope they throw the book at the owners too.

As for your aircraft hangar story, wow, sends shivers down one's spine just thinking about the possible Hollywood Scenarios!! ?

Credit to you all, wow! ?

Still sticks in the memory.. I heard an odd 'wump' in my office off the main hanger? Went to the door and saw smoke and bits going up in the middle of the hanger. Grabbed an CO2 job and had to roll under the other a/c to get there. An Auster type was well alight from the cabin to the tail. Blasted it with the gas and and others came up and helped. It was full of avgas and we had 22 other a/craft crowded in . Lots of 'What if' But we got it sorted .. Just..

 

[GHA]

Seems like another lithium battery fire.

Important the state the chemistry though, another lithium ion fire - same batteries as you phone and laptop. LiFePo4 which are used for boat banks are completely different and don't set themselves alight.

 

[Graham376]

Important the state the chemistry though, another lithium ion fire - same batteries as you phone and laptop. LiFePo4 which are used for boat banks are completely different and don't set themselves alight.

His boat bank appears to have set on fire, no mention of make though.

 

[GHA]

His boat bank appears to have set on fire, no mention of make though.

scroll down near the bottom.
"The NTSB determined the fire began in the back of a middle deck salon where lithium-ion batteries were being charged,"

Saw another link talking about charging cheapo lithium ion for dive torches.

If it was the boat batteries they would have been LiFePO4 and no story as there would have been no fire.

 

[dom]

Still sticks in the memory.. I heard an odd 'wump' in my office off the main hanger? Went to the door and saw smoke and bits going up in the middle of the hanger. Grabbed an CO2 job and had to roll under the other a/c to get there. An Auster type was well alight from the cabin to the tail. Blasted it with the gas and and others came up and helped. It was full of avgas and we had 22 other a/craft crowded in . Lots of 'What if' But we got it sorted .. Just..

Extraordinary effort on you part! Was it ever determined what caused the fire?

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Dom, I think the truth is already out there. This boat was not up to safety standards re: getting out. I have delt with a fire in an aircraft hanger. The speed that things happen is startling. We got it sorted, but only just... and that was because we were on it in seconds. They(in the boat) were all asleep..
This fire was well going before it was noticed. If they had had the required 'roving deck watch' MAYBE it would have turned out better.

Not on the same scale, but I had a nasty experience earlier this year when our tumble-dryer caught fire. I managed to haul it out of the house before it really went up, thereby saving the insurance company a 6 figure sum! But again, the speed with which a fire can develop is scary; fortunately I discovered it (thanks to the smoke alarm) before the fire had burnt through the outer case, and equally fortunately, the fire was at the back of the machine so I could drag it out by holding it at the front. Even so, it damaged the kitchen and hallway floors. Once it had burnt through the case, it would have been impossible to control indoors, and because the fire developed INSIDE the case, it is doubtful whether a fire-extinguisher would have made much difference in the early stages.