Fire on a vessel at sea is very dangerous. Fires on boats often lead to fatalities when people are trapped on board. This happened in California in 2019. The captain of that boat has just been convicted on criminal charges and sentenced to jail time.
The Dive Boat Accident
The Conception dive boat caught fire and sank off the coast of California on Labor Day in 2019. The 75-foot boat was near Santa Cruz Island in the Channel Islands National Park, about 20 miles from the coast, when the accident occurred.
The boat had 39 people on board. After the accident, only five crew members were found alive, including the captain. The 34 passengers and one crew member lost in the accident were assumed to have died from smoke inhalation.
The victims of the accident were below decks in the sleeping quarters when the fire began around 3 a.m. They likely were trapped and were unable to get out of the burning boat through either of the two possible escape routes. The five surviving crew members were able to jump overboard.
What Caused the Fire?
Fires on boats and ships are often tragic and, even worse, are often preventable. The National Transportation Safety Board investigated the cause of the fire and other factors that led to so many fatalities in this tragedy to determine if it should have been prevented.
The cause of the fire was likely cell phone batteries left charging overnight. The lithium-ion batteries used in phones often overheat. While that might not have been preventable, the tragedy might not have occurred if the boat had an assigned watch.
The license the boat held required that at least one crew member be awake and on patrol at all times overnight. The captain was responsible for enforcing this requirement. If a crew member had been on patrol, they likely would have caught the fire before it got out of control or with adequate time to warn and evacuate passengers from the sleeping area.
Captain Sentenced to Jail Time
A federal judge sentenced the captain of the Conception, Jerry Boylan, to four years in prison in 2024. He was convicted of negligence in what is termed “seaman’s manslaughter.” According to reports, Boylan was the first to abandon ship, leaving other crew members to try to save the trapped passengers.
There are no explicit laws in the U.S. requiring captains to stay with a sinking ship. However, as the leader of the vessel, he was expected to make some effort to rescue passengers. His conviction was for negligence that led to the fire and resulting deaths.
In addition to failing to enforce the night watchman requirement, Boylan was also negligent in not preparing his crew for fires. They should have been better trained in fighting on-board fires.
Fires on boats and ships at sea are extremely dangerous. Safety training, watchmen, and other measures can prevent tragedies when fires start. Unfortunately, this situation ended in a terrible tragedy, and now the captain is paying with prison time.