Dive boat catches fire and sinks off of Santa Cruz Island

[DrDoug]

This is absolutely horrible...

A 75-foot diving vessel named Conception caught fire Monday while anchored off Santa Cruz Island, prompting an hourslong multi-agency effort to find more than two dozen missing passengers believed to have been on board, authorities said.

A total of eight people have been found dead, including four bodies found along the ocean floor that have not yet been recovered, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said.

The crew of five abandoned ship and were saved by a nearby ship and reports are that 26 more people are missing. . It looks like the crew may not have even tried to save anyone. I've read descriptions of explosions and a single exit but those were in comments elsewhere, not reported.

My thoughts are with those who have lost their loved ones. How tragic.

Edit:

I found another story with more detail and comments about the crew may have been premature...

The crew was distraught, some wearing only underwear, she said. One man told the Hansens that his girlfriend was still below deck on the Conception. Another man cried, describing how they had celebrated three passengers’ birthdays hours earlier, including that of a 17-year-old girl who was on the diving trip with her parents.

The picture of the boat makes it look like they may have suffocated and burned before the boat sunk.

 

[esquared]

AP update:
25 bodies found.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/coast-guard-responding-more-30-130828402.html

 

[trenchfoot]

That crew that saved their own skins are going to wish they went down with those folks who were in their care.

 

[DrDoug]

In a former career I designed, built and installed custom marine electrical systems for 'big boats'. I've done a few dive ships, the last (and biggest) one being an 87' staysail schooner that was cut in half and had 14' added to the center (101' LOA), and those ships only carried up to 12 divers and 4-6 crew. Granted it was over 25 years ago but it seems to me that having 34 people below deck on a 75' vessel was a disaster looking for a place to happen. Heck, the schooner had three large deck hatches and a cabin entry that two men could pass through because you need to get on deck fast when shit goes down.

I can't even imagine the horrible berth arrangements for that many people in that small of a space. They must have been packed like sardines.

 

[brycejones]

That crew that saved their own skins are going to wish they went down with those folks who were in their care.

I would not rush to that judgement. It seems there was only a single stairway to the berths where the passengers were. If the fire had already engulfed that area there was nothing they could do. Let the facts come in before we condemn.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

I clearly don't know anything about boats, but why isn't it standard to have some kind of pumping mechanism to pull water from around you into a hose that can be used to put out fires? Or even an extinguisher or three? That seems like a big boat.

 

[Stopsignhank]

This is truly a horrific event.

The dive boat has an awful design. The only stairs sent up through the galley. Now let's think about this, where is a fire probably going to start? Probably either the engine room or the kitchen. Having the only exit go through the kitchen is about the dumbest thing I can think of.

 

[K1052]

What a terrible tragedy.

A 75ft live aboard that holds 46 passengers and crew seems really tight to say the least. I've been on a few but like 100ft boats and 20-30ish people.

 

[theeedude]

That crew that saved their own skins are going to wish they went down with those folks who were in their care.

We need to make sure they get the psychological help they need in this crisis. They didn't design that deathtrap, you can't expect people, who are probably paid peanuts, to burn themselves to death trying to rescue others from a ship with no emergency exits for three dozen people. And if you do, you've been watching too many movies.

 

[thilanliyan]

Hmmm...I'll have to pay more attention next time I book a live-a-board. Honestly, I would have expected this kind of thing to happen in a country with more lax safety.

 

[deustroop]

Heck if you are stacking clients in bunks, there's almost no limit to the number you can stuff in a room.

Looks like leaky gas to me with many tanks of gas. Went boom.

Leave the crew alone. Spontaneous combustion would be nasty, brutal and fast.

The tour operator is likely headed for the hills.