Fire on dive boat Conception in CA

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We will never know what happened. My money is on faulty Li-on being charged at the wrong place at the wrong time. Search for any video of burning Li-on battey online to see it's power. The truth is that the design of this vessel was awful in respect to exit routes for both fire and capsizing. Kinda floating morque (c'mon, one narrow stair for 34 people?!! from the room with no windows?!!). I dive on all wooden boats in Red Sea. 20 people below deck in 10 cabins with shower and toilets and small windows which could be opened for air. Two exits. 16 more people in above deck rooms in 8 cabins. Cost a million dollars to build in 2000. Just facts.

We dive these boats. We have done the exact same dive trips on this exact ship. We and I have friends who may have been on this boat and I still dont know if they were on it as they are not replying back. Family members are reading this thread. This is more than close to home. Have a care posting here friend. We all know the dive op and we all did the same trips it could have been us. Easily. There was no malfeasance. It was a horrific accident. Do you have car accidents in your country?
 
This isn't going to have the impact of the Titanic on marine safety regulation, but it's doubtless going to have a major impact on this style of dive boat in the US. And maybe a lot more than just dive boats.

For sure. Whoever thought it is "safe" to stow-away up to 40 tourists in such a confined space with just one steep escape ladder should probably think again.
 
If it started in the engine room I suspect they would have been required to have a automatically triggered halon system

I'm also guessing (@Wookie @markmud will know more) that an Engine room would have a firewall giving a certain time of fire resistance before it can spread outside of that area
 
I'm also guessing (@Wookie @markmud will know more) that an Engine room would have a firewall giving a certain time of fire resistance before it can spread outside of that area

Hi DD,

Yeah, there was a solid bulkhead between the berthing area and the engine room. I would have to reference the CFR for the exact design criteria for that bulkhead.

As a vessel operator, the design aspects were not critical, other than we could not alter water tight bulkheads without a naval architect's design and USCG approval; we had compartmentalization and that's all we were concerned with. Again, the exact criteria for compartmentalization for a 100 ton passenger carrying vessel is not top-of-mind now.

I don't know if it needs to be a 30 minute fire rated bulkhead or not.

markm
 
I would argue (from an aerospace background) that actually it's not a moot point. Fire is a risk, so adequate escape should be provided (as well as preventative measures, warning - alarms and fire suppression)

So I would say the cause of the fire is secondary, The primary being; was their sufficient warning to the passengers, and what prevented their evacuation

I've worked with the NTSB on air crash investigations in US so know they'll be very thorough.

What stands out to me straight away from the picture in post #45 from @elgoog is how narrow and insufficient the gangways are. It's a dead end one way and, in the middle of the night, if awakened everyone trying to get out of bed at the same time (some possibly getting belongings). If passengers near the exits on this boat were overcome with noxious fumes (assuming they were awake) then that would block that route.

GRP boats burn fast

With an aircraft you have multiple routes and exits, you can go over the seats if you wish For the A 380 we evacuated 850 passengers in 78 seconds (less than 90 seconds is the required time), with 50% of exits made unusable.

The plane had debris in the aisles was dark and we pumped smoke in just to make it that little bit more difficult as an additional incentive we offered hard cash $50/$100 notes to the first X many people off to encourage a less orderly (more "panicked) departure for test "passengers"

This will have impacts on US boats for sure, no doubt with new legislation being implemented and boats being pulled out of service for non compliance, with OP's not being able to afford to replace them

Hey DD,

How fast do you think an accidental fire on a vessel such as Conception can spread? Too fast for a person performing an anchor watch/fire watch to alert other crew members and passengers?

This is the question that bothers me.

markm
 
Apparently, the call actually came in at 3:14 a.m.

All of the crew up top would not have been awake.

Cooking didn't start until around 5 a.m. (I disremember if 5 or 5:30). This info came from a report of telephone interview with retired owner. He also speculated that it was a battery.

I know that many think that the emergency call to coast guard was made from Conception but my thinking is that it was made from the Grape Escape. I've determined this based on the coastie asking the caller if he could "return to the Conception and unlock the door" as well as, "you don't have any firefighting equipment. . ."

If you're following me here, my thought process is that the fire was so quick that the upstairs crew had to bail before calling SOS and that the call was made from the other boat.

Ken Kurtis' response on CNN was Captain was calling from Conception and on fire.

Based only on the reported part of what we hear the coastie saying, it seems to me that the call was not made from the Conception.
 
Yes I totally agree that it seems that the captain and crew were on the Grape Escape when making the mayday call, from the audio.

Looking at the design of that boat I have to say I’m slightly horrified at how it was legal, evacuation wise. I’m sure the crew were great etc...but one exit and a over bunk hatch? And why did the coastguard radio operator say “can you return to unlock the door?” I wish we had the other side of the conversation.
 
Yes I totally agree that it seems that the captain and crew were on the Grape Escape when making the mayday call, from the audio.

Looking at the design of that boat I have to say I’m slightly horrified at how it was legal, evacuation wise. I’m sure the crew were great etc...but one exit and a over bunk hatch? And why did the coastguard radio operator say “can you return to unlock the door?” I wish we had the other side of the conversation.

Even the fancier lobs that I've been on, only had a staircase at one end and a hatch at the other. Ergo, I don't find that unusual. That said, there have been far fewer guests aboard the lobs that I've been aboard.
 
Cooking aboard the boat is electric. The Coast Guard does not allow gas stoves.

The fuel is diesel which does not ignite easily.

The divers tanks are filled with air or Nitrox, no Oxygen. All is below 40% which is a safe level. The Nitrox is generated by a Nuvair membrane system. No oxygen is stored for that purpose. The news outlets reporting this as a possible cause are idiots.

There is a small amount of Oxygen stored for first aid use only.
The coast guard absolutely allows gas stoves on passenger vessels.
 
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