Post-Conception Disaster: what you learned & will change

Lots of takeaways on this and similar threads. In particular you might also want to take a look at the thread on the Red Sea Aggressor incident: Fire on safari boat Suzana in Egypt (Red Sea Aggressor)

 

Somebody posted on another thread that the T&C Aggressor arranged for a rapid test once they get back to the dock for $75 so he can return to the US.

Link - Turks and Caicos - Aggressor Dec 12-19...Advice, recommendations?

 

It depends on which LOB are you going to be on. I'll be on Nautilus Belle Amie for Socorro in May. They inform me that they'll bring a medical professional on board in the morning of the disembarkation day and take a swab test for antigen test for free of charge and we can then wait for a couple of hours to get the result. If the result is false positive, I plan to retake the test for $20 in Tesoro Los Cabos hotel.

I do plan to stay in the hotel after the LOB for 3-day local boat diving (Cabo Pulmo, Gordo Banks, etc.) before flying home. That would give me a plan C of getting a more accurate PCR test, which may take 24-48 hour to get the result.

In March, I'll be on 2 back-to-back LOB trips (deep south, Gan-Male, route on Carpe Vita and standard, Male-Male, route on Emperor Leo). I'm still waiting for detail info about the COVID-19 testing upon return to Male. I added an extra night in Male, before flying home, just in case I get a false positive.

I have DiveAssure travel insurance with COVID-19 rider, just in case I get the dang virus and will be hospitalized and/or quarantined there.

I had 10 month of "training" last year in how to be COVID-19 free, PCR tested before I went to Cocos last month and Socorro 3 weeks ago. I think if you follow CDC protocol closely, you'll be fine. Get yourself N95 mask, not the useless bandana like cloth mask. Even with N95 mask, make sure you wear it correctly by pressing the nose clip firmly against your nose bridge. Try to eat alone (social distancing from other people than your dive buddies). Even while eating, once the food is in your mouth, put back your N95 mask on while chewing your food. I'll have 10 more dive trips to go in this year, including next week to Belize, so I really really don't want to get the dang virus.

 

Thanks Dan. I was interested in how specific LOBs would handle testing. I have a LOB trip in Indonesia planned for the fall and if a negative PCR test is required for US return, I think I need to plan a few days on shore to take a test and get results.

 

If Indonesia foreign tourism is open by August, I’ll be on White Manta to Sangalaki, bringing 7 of my dive buddies with me. We plan to have a week in Bali after the LOB. So, I have plan B & C covered.

 

Hey Everyone,

My best friend was on the conception along with her family. I was googling, found this thread and felt a need to obtain an account and comment. None of us ever want to see a tragedy like this again that could have been so easily avoided. I loved all of your ideas and wholeheartedly believe that threads like this will do a lot in regard to prevention. I apologize in advance for the probability that this may be long winded.

The trip started out by no crew members being present when passengers started to check in. This was the norm, you get on the boat, sign in and wait for the crew. A safety briefing did not take place till the next morning after the Conception departed. The crew wasn’t sure if the captain had gone over the escape hatches from what I recall.

There seemed to be a lot of questions in this post about the fire origination. NTSB could not with all certainty pinpoint where it started. They did however have witness statements (crew members) who were able to look in and see that it was in the location of the charging station. It should be noted that hours before the fire, a crew member had plugged in his cell phone and saw sufficient sparks shooting out. Also, a year prior there was a fire on one of Truth Aquatics sister vessels (vision?). This fire was caused by the charging station, the Captain of that boat stated to NTSB that he contacted the owner and other captains stating that there shouldn’t be unsupervised charging, which wasn’t followed by Truth Aquatics or Boylan. I believe that same Captain was a fireman.

The people on the conception were awake, the autopsy reports confirmed this. They had shoes on, were holding lanterns etc. I would prefer to just move on to the next thing, but no...no one died in their sleep and the autopsy reports were uglier than most could imagine. Our loved ones experienced a very traumatic and painful death.

The Captain was aware of his need for a roving patrol and stated to NTSB investigators initially that he felt putting a sleeping crew member in the berthing area would suffice. That she could handle any issues the passengers may need.

The Captain put off safety training for new crew members, even after they asked for it. This included during the trip that killed our friends and family. Previous and current deckhands couldn’t remember the last time if ever that Boylan had conducted safety training.

There was some type of fire alarm in the berthing area that linked to where Boylan and the other crew members were topside. However you could barely hear it, even if you were right in front of the screen. The intercom from the berthing area was not linked up at all, making the sleeping quarters a death trap.

One of the crew members heard what he thought was someone tripping and falling 15 minutes before he was aware of a fire. Was half asleep and just figured the person was fine, maybe hit their leg against the latrine and went back to sleep.

There have been quite a few lawsuits against Truth Aquatics over the years for personal injury and negligence. You can simply go to the Santa Barbra Superior Court website, go to case search and either type in Jerry Boylan or Truth Aquatics.

Past captains and deckhands made it apparent in their interview that Boylan wasn’t someone you could question. It was basically his ship and his way period.

NTSB went pretty hard at the Coast Guard for not doing a better job at making sure that boat coating and owners were implementing safety training and roving patrols.

In regard to those who commented that they would confidently go back on Truth Aquatic boats:

I read through thousands of pages of NTSB documents including witness statements of former and current captains, deckhands, cooks etc. I went through superior court lawsuits, autopsy reports and witness statements. Again, thousands and thousands of pages No one in their right mind would ever trust this company or this captain after doing so. Negligence is an understatement of the year.

I would also like to add for those who aren’t aware. The truth aquatics owners ran to court before the last body had been recovered to preemptively stop lawsuits against them. Their attorneys attempted to enact a 200 year old shipping law that stated an owner couldn’t get sued for more than the boat was worth. The conception was obviously worth 0. Again, the bodies were still in the bottom of the ocean.

 

This sounds less like the lithium battery fire and more like an overloaded circuit or a surge protector being used on a marine power system.

 

I pray to Allah to give solace and patience to the survivors, the victims' families, their friends and loved ones of this horrific tragedy.

 

No apology needed; you were on point and concise. Appreciate the summary.

 

I think that is a very good possibility, with that being said I do not have any type of electrical background. However, one of the crew who gave a witness statement said that there were power strips linked to other power strips with a lot of equipment. Also, there was a night dive that evening that ended I believe around 8 or 9. The equipment was wet as well.