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At the risk of hoof-mouth disease, I don't see a realistic chance of a limitation ultimately prevailing, where the owner had to have known what the COI said, and must have known that his captains (well at least on Conception) were not provided with enough personnel (say one additional deckhand)...

Sentencing is now set for February 8th, the Judge will decide. So the jury’s work is done. I hope they all take a couple of days off to decompress. But the families’ grieving isn’t on any calendar. This trial has to have been tough on them, and their grief has no end date.

Assume tomorrow will be argument to the Judge about what the sentence should be, not to exceed the 10 years Maximum under that Misconduct of ships’ officer statute he was charged with.

If you read it again, you'll see "we convicted him, not any question"

And as I understand it, it is now in the hands of the jury, after closing arguments last Friday, if I read the news accounts correctly. Boylan did not take the stand, which probably means his attorneys figured it would only make things worse--or, maybe he just didn't want to, or was afraid to...

Re question 1, Yes it's legally required, by the Coast Guard when they Certificated the vessel and every two years it's reinspected and renewed. It's a regulation of theirs, call it a law if you want, either way it's required. And it's specifically stated in black and white on the Certificate...

Copy that, A roving watchstander (as opposed to a “patrol once an hour”) would have spent the non-roving interval in the pubic areas, at a galley or salon table. That’s what a watchstander does, I’ve been one. And where where did this fire start? In that same public area.

He has already gotten a fairly decent “plea deal” with a ten year max, when they charged him. It’s a cowardly defense especially coming from a licensed Master, “my mean old employer made me not insist on having a roving night watch”. I expect the Coast Guard will jerk his license once this...

Dr So, it seems he didn’t take the stand, leaving his attorney to carry the ball, and blame it on his employer— who got the best deal in the world, in not being prosecuted himself. If that’s how it ends up, the jury gets less than the whole story. And the families don’t get to see and hear...

Interesting discussions, but does anyone know what happened in court on Friday? I understand the prosecution finished on Thursday. I’m interested in whether capt Boylan took the stand, or Fritzler for that matter. I don’t envy the jury having to suss this all out without having heard directly...

Is there a news source out of Santa Barbara or elsewhere that's reporting on the trial more recently than a week ago? Am wondering if Captain Boylan took the stand or not, and if so how it went, when are/were the closing statements if it' got that far?

Me too.

The magic words are carrying passengers "for hire". Which requires a Coast Guard license as Operator (six-pack) or Master (minimum is 25 tons, most US dive boat captains have 50 or 100 Gross Registered Tons, typically up to 200 miles offshore). And those license-holders are typically very...

Here's a news account of some of the proceedings on yesterday, Tuesday, an expert witness from King's Point regarding shipboard fires and response, retained by the Prosecution. Nothing surprising here, I think, so I'll refrain from trying to characterize it...

Condolences, Frank, on your loss. God Bless.

As a late-night watchstander while at anchor (meaning an offshore mooring buoy) a few times, on a hundred-foot, hundred-ton boat, I was mostly in the salon/galley or the nearby two-steps-up wheelhouse and captain's chair. So I've already looked at them, can't avoid it. To make a round from...

Bravo Zulu to all who responded and saved this diver out at the Flower Gardens. With all the (awful and depressing, but important) news about the Conception tragedy trial out in California, it’s gratifying to read about a quick and effective rescue where things went “right”.

Prosecutor apparently portraying the Captain and crew as cowards for jumping off the wheelhouse deck into the water, is off the mark. Had they not done so, they would have burned to death up there, it appears the fire was by then un-fightable from the vessel, despite some of the crew climbing...