Sinking of MV Conception facts for kids
Conception at dawn on September 2, shortly after the fire was extinguished (photo by Ventura County Fire Department)
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| Date | September 2, 2019 | ||||||
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| Time | Approximately 3 a.m. PDT UTC−07:00 | ||||||
| Location | Platts Harbor, Santa Cruz Island, California, United States | ||||||
| Cause | Fire | ||||||
| Outcome | (See Aftermath section) | ||||||
| Deaths | 34 | ||||||
| Non-fatal injuries | 5 | ||||||
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The sinking of MV Conception occurred on September 2, 2019, when the 75-foot (23 m) dive boat caught fire and eventually sank off the coast of Santa Cruz Island, California, United States. The boat was anchored overnight at Platts Harbor, a small undeveloped bay on the island's north shore, with 33 passengers and 1 crew member asleep below decks when a fire broke out shortly after 3 a.m. Five crew members, whose sleeping quarters were on the top deck, survived while everyone else on board died. The crew members were forced by the fire to jump overboard but not before placing an initial mayday call to the Coast Guard and attempting to alert the passengers. The crew retrieved the Conception's skiff and motored to a nearby boat where a second radio dispatch was made. The rescue and recovery operations were coordinated by the United States Coast Guard.
It is the worst maritime disaster in California since the sinking of the Brother Jonathan in 1865, and the deadliest in the United States overall since the USS Iowa turret explosion in 1989. It is also the deadliest transportation-related disaster in the United States since the 2009 Colgan Air Flight 3407 crash near Buffalo, New York.
Contents
Boat
Motor vessel (initialized “MV”) Conception was a 75-foot (23 m) liveaboard boat built in Long Beach, California, and launched in 1981. It was one of three dive boats owned by Truth Aquatics, which operated charter excursions from Santa Barbara Harbor for groups of divers interested in exploring the Channel Islands, located close to the coast of Southern California across the Santa Barbara Channel from Santa Barbara and Ventura County. Conception was under charter to Worldwide Diving Adventures (WDA) for a three-day scuba diving excursion over the Labor Day holiday weekend, which was one of WDA's most popular diving tour packages. The boat had been refurbished at a cost of more than $1 million following an incident in 2005 when it had been stolen and run aground.
Federal and international regulations require boats over a certain size to be made of fire-resistant materials and to include fire sprinklers and smoke detectors wired into the ship's electronics or linked to the bridge. Given the vessel's age and size, Conception, at less than 100 GT and with fewer than 49 berths, was not covered by those regulations. It was constructed of wood covered with fiberglass, as permitted by regulations last updated in 1978. At the time of the fire, Conception was believed to be in compliance with those regulations, and the most recent Coast Guard inspections in February 2019 and August 2018 did not result in any noteworthy violations. According to the vessel's Certificate of Inspection, it had a maximum capacity of 103: 4 crew and 99 passengers; one crewmember was required to be designated as a roving patrol at all times when the passenger bunks were occupied.
The boat was laid out with three decks. The upper deck contained the wheelhouse, crew quarters, and a sun deck lounge area. The main deck, just below the upper deck, included a large cabin, which had a galley (in the forward portion of the cabin) where the crew could prepare meals and a salon (in the aft portion) with seating for meals. The salon was accessed from the stern through a hallway lined with restrooms. On the lower deck, up to 46 individuals could sleep in 13 double bunks (12 of which were stacked in twos) and 20 single bunks (18 stacked in threes), with one labeled as reserved for crew. The lower deck also contained the shower area, anchor locker, engine room, and lazarette (a machinery space). The rest of the crew berths were located two decks above, in the aft portion of the wheelhouse on the upper deck.
According to the deck plans, the main access to the guest accommodations on the lower deck was the forward stairway connected to the galley and main deck cabin. The designer of the vessel stated that there were two exits from the lower deck bunk room: a forward staircase at the bow end of the vessel that led up to the galley area, and an aft escape hatch located above one of the bunks, which led to the salon. After exiting the aft escape hatch, a person would still be within the main deck cabin, approximately 3 to 4 feet (0.91 to 1.22 m) forward of the exit to the main deck. Some former dive passengers could only recall the forward stairway exit and could not recall if they had been briefed on the presence of the aft emergency escape hatch. Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown stated both exits appeared to have been blocked by fire during the disaster.
Fire
Voyage
Conception departed Santa Barbara Harbor at 4:04 a.m. on August 31 and arrived at a dive location near Albert Anchorage, on the south side of Santa Cruz Island, by 8:30 a.m. that morning. The six-person crew consisted of the captain, a second captain (the Truth Aquatics title for mate), first and second deckhands, and first and second galleyhands. Upon arrival and while eating breakfast, the first deckhand conducted a safety briefing, which was interrupted when a passenger fainted; after the passenger was revived, the captain continued the briefing. Conception then sailed to the eastern side of the island and anchored in Smuggler's Cove overnight. As part of their regular nighttime routine, the crew had an unwritten policy to shut down the circuit breakers to de-energize the galley burners and griddle.
The excursion held a night dive at Quail Rock, on the northern coast near the western end of the island, from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on September 1. The returning divers stowed flashlights, cameras, and photo strobes on the two aft tables in the salon; some of these were plugged in to charge alongside cellular phones and tablets. The first galleyhand recalled that when he plugged in his phone to charge that night, he "saw sparks" at the receptacle.
Discovery of the fire
On the night of the fire, the second galleyhand woke at approximately 1:30 a.m. and went to the galley to wash dishes; he did not see any other passengers or crew awake at the time. After emptying the trash, he went back to sleep in the crew quarters on the upper deck at approximately 2:35 a.m. He later awoke to the sound of a pop in the dark and believed it to be a disoriented crew member or passenger. Upon leaving his bed to attempt to aid the individual, he discovered an uncontrollable fire on the main deck below. The fire had already spread to the aft end of the upper deck, and was blocking their way to the main deck, as the aft ladder was already engulfed in flames. The second galleyhand returned to wake the remaining crew on the upper deck, and two mayday calls were placed at approximately 3:14 a.m. from the wheelhouse of the Conception.
The five crew members that had been sleeping on the upper deck jumped down to the main deck and one broke his leg in the process. The second galleyhand was the first to descend, lowering himself after leaving the wheelhouse through the wing station door on the port side of the boat. He tried to go aft to retrieve fire extinguishers, but his path was blocked by smoke and flames billowing out of the salon windows. The first deckhand followed soon after the second galleyhand; the second galleyhand saw him come down and turned back from the smoke and flames. As the second galleyhand was turning around towards the bow, the first galleyhand was jumping down from the port side of the wheelhouse; the first galleyhand landed awkwardly and broke his left leg, and the second galleyhand hurdled over him while running forward.
The ship's captain said the aft escape hatch was engulfed in fire and the surviving crew could do nothing to help the passengers and the second deckhand, who were all sleeping in the lower deck berths. The first deckhand and second galleyhand then attempted to access the main deck cabin through the center window in the forward section of the boat; although the window was not hot, it could not be opened and only thick smoke could be seen through the window. Flames prevented the crew from accessing the salon along both the port and starboard exterior walkways to rescue the trapped passengers.
Mayday calls and abandoning the boat
At this time, the captain was transmitting mayday signals; after connecting to the watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Los Angeles/Long Beach, the captain transmitted "39 POB [people on board]. I can't breathe. 39 POB. Platts." The captain then jumped directly into the ocean from the starboard wing door; since smoke was trailing behind him, several crewmembers thought he was on fire and the second captain followed him into the ocean to assist. The first deckhand remembered there was an axe in the wheelhouse just as the captain leapt, but since the captain was the last to leave the wheelhouse, it could not be retrieved. Access to the firefighting stations, at the port and starboard exterior sides of the aft end of the saloon, was blocked by the fire. Trapped by the fire, the first deckhand and second galleyhand followed the captains into the water; the second galleyhand encouraged the first galleyhand to abandon ship as well, which he was able to do through the port bow gate.
All five crew members eventually leapt into the ocean from the bow to escape the fire; the second captain, the first deckhand, and the captain retrieved the boat's skiff (an inflatable dinghy) from the stern, and, after retrieving the remaining crew, paddled approximately 200 yards (180 m) to the only boat moored nearby, the Grape Escape. Both the second captain and first deckhand reboarded the stern of Conception, and both were unable to access the lower deck in separate attempts. The first deckhand attempted to enter the engine room on the lower deck to start the fire pump, but the space was filled with white/grey smoke. The second captain noted the stricken vessel still had power while using the electric winch to lower the skiff from the stern. Once the skiff was in the water, the two were commanded by the captain to abandon Conception again.
The surviving crew put out another mayday alert from the Grape Escape at 3:29 a.m. and the second captain and first deckhand returned to the Conception in the skiff to search for survivors. While waiting for aid, small explosions were heard from the Conception, believed by the crew to be caused by the pressurized dive cylinders rupturing from the heat of the fire. One of the distress calls sent from the Conception initially suggested that at least one individual below deck was awake, as a man's voice was recorded screaming "Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! I can't breathe!" However, Glen Fritzler, the owner of Truth Aquatics, clarified the first mayday calls had been made by the captain of the Conception from the wheelhouse before he evacuated from the boat.
Fire fighting and sinking
After arriving onsite, officials struggled to fight the fire, as the boat was in a remote location with limited firefighting resources, and the fire was moving quickly and kept flaring up. The anchor line of the Conception burned through and the boat began to drift towards the island, raising fears it might ignite onshore vegetation. In addition, since Conception had drifted into shallower waters, most of the fireboats on-scene were unable to continue fighting the fire for lack of clearance, including a shallow-draft Santa Barbara Harbor Patrol boat.
Although the two initial-response RB-Ms onsite had portable 250 US gal/min (950 L/min) dewatering pumps that could be used for firefighting, the VCFD determined they would not be effective, and they began searching the waters for survivors, as the magnitude of the fire aboard Conception meant there was no one left alive on board the vessel. Boat 15 would be the primary firefighting boat after it arrived at 4:55 a.m., as it had greater pump capacity and carried firefighting foam. The helicopter CG 6540 remained on station until forced to return to Point Mugu for fuel at 5:09 a.m., using their forward-looking infrared (FLIR) camera to search for potential survivors in the water; conditions were excellent for the search, and the FLIR was able to pick up seagulls from a distance of 1⁄2 mi (0.80 km), but no survivors were found.
In order to attempt to fight the fire and allow fireboats to reach the vessel, a grappling line was secured and the still-burning Conception was towed out to deeper water by Retriever II. Boat 15 reported the fire was extinguished by 5:23 a.m., although hotspots kept reigniting. The fire had burned to the waterline of the hull, which was also full of water from firefighting efforts. The hull was not stable enough to place pumps on board to dewater it. Conception was then towed by Retriever II back to shallower waters to aid in its recovery, but the boat sank stern-first about four hours after the fire broke out at 6:54 a.m., coming to rest upside-down at a depth of 64 feet (20 m) approximately 20 yards (18 m) from the north shore of Santa Cruz Island. The first victim was pulled from the water at 8:04 a.m.
Coast Guard cutter Narwhal arrived at 8:32 a.m., approximately two hours after being dispatched and assumed on-scene command upon arrival, remaining at Platts Harbor for four days to coordinate rescue and recovery operations. The Coast Guard suspended their search for survivors at 9:40 a.m. on September 3 after spending 23 hours combing 160 sq mi (410 km2) of the waters north of Santa Cruz Island with five MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crews, two Response Boat – Medium crews, and the Narwhal.
Investigation
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) launched a go team on September 3 to the accident to investigate.
On September 11, the Coast Guard announced it would convene a formal Marine Board of Investigation (MBI) for the fire and loss of Conception. The four members of the MBI will determine contributing factors, including whether the actions of certified people or any Coast Guard or government personnel may have contributed to the loss. The Coast Guard named Captain Jason Neubauer as the chair of the MBI. However, the MBI had not been convened by October 2020.
The wreck was examined by government officials after it was retrieved and brought to Port Hueneme on September 13; the ATF examination concluded September 27, but no immediate cause of the fire was determined. Some parts of the boat have been removed and sent to laboratories for further examination.
Cause
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The NTSB expected to conclude its investigation and declare a cause after twelve to eighteen months of investigations. One of the surviving crew members theorized the fire may have started in the salon of the ship, where cellphones and cameras had been plugged in to charge overnight. The designer of the vessel speculated the fire may have begun in the bunk area, possibly sparked by a lithium battery. Boats made at the time the Conception was built were not installed with electrical systems that could handle the number of rechargeable devices carried by current passengers, who often bring cell phones, cameras, and lighting systems for their dives. The sheer number of devices charging at once may have overloaded circuits, or the devices' lithium-ion batteries may have overloaded. In October 2018, two passengers aboard the sister ship Vision saw a battery and charger catch on fire in the aft portion of the salon; one unplugged it and dunked it in a bin of rinse water, and the other emptied a fire extinguisher onto the aft bookcase where it had been plugged in.
The NTSB planned to take remnants of any devices charging in the boat to their headquarters near Washington, D.C. for further examination. On September 10, the Coast Guard issued Marine Safety Information Bulletin (MSIB) 008–19, immediately advising owners, operators, and masters of passenger vessels to limit "the unsupervised charging of lithium-ion batteries and extensive use of power strips and extension cords".
Probable cause
The NTSB concluded "the probable cause of the accident on board the small passenger vessel Conception was the failure of Truth Aquatics, Inc., to provide effective oversight of its vessel and crewmember operations, including requirements to ensure that a roving patrol was maintained, which allowed a fire of unknown cause to grow, undetected, in the vicinity of the aft salon on the main deck."
Aftermath
California Governor Gavin Newsom issued a statement through Twitter praising the efforts of the emergency medical workers and offering his condolences to the families and loved ones affected.
A makeshift memorial was created outside Sea Landing, the headquarters of Truth Aquatics in Santa Barbara Harbor. A vigil was scheduled for September 6 with first responders taking part in the open-to-all event, which was organised by local religious groups, divers, and other organisations. The memorial was moved from Sea Landing to the end of the harbor breakwater in November 2019, adjacent to the existing "Lost at Sea" memorial, sculpted by Bud Bottoms and dedicated in June 2005. A permanent memorial for the victims of the Conception fire was dedicated at the site on September 2, 2020, the first anniversary of the disaster; the list of victims were written on a plaque and affixed to a boulder in Platts Cove. Another memorial is being designed for a planned California Islands museum in Carpinteria, incorporating one of the propellers from Conception.
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Truth Aquatics suspended operations on their remaining two boats following the disaster. The voluntary suspension was made indefinite in October 2019.
In June 2020, the Coast Guard awarded the Meritorious Public Service Award, one of its highest civilian honors, to Paul Amaral, captain of the TowBoat US vessel that towed the still-burning Conception into deeper waters.
Legacy
The NTSB recommended the Coast Guard make revisions to Title 46 Code of Federal Regulations Subchapter T, governing small passenger vessels. Recommended changes included stricter requirements for interconnected smoke detectors comprehensively deployed in all passenger accommodation spaces, development of an inspection procedure to verify that roving patrols are implemented, and secondary escape paths that provide an alternate exit point. Another key recommendation was to establish regulations to require marine vessel operators to implement a safety management system; this was a repeated recommendation that had been made previously after two accidents involving MV Andrew J. Barberi in 2003 and 2010.
In February 2021, Vice Admiral Scott Buschman of the Coast Guard announced his concurrence with the NTSB recommendations. A "concentrated [Coast Guard] inspection campaign" of vessels with overnight accommodations was undertaken after the fatal fire aboard Conception, and the results of that campaign, said Buschman, will be used to update the inspection program.
The United States House of Representatives Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation held a hearing on November 14, 2019, to discuss commercial and passenger vessel safety. Brian Curtis, the director of the NTSB's Office of Marine Safety, testified before the Subcommittee, reiterating the investigation into the sinking of Conception was still in progress and that it would focus on the wreck itself as well as other factors such as current regulations, fire alarm and warning systems, evacuation routes, training, and company policies and procedures. Members of the Subcommittee asked the Coast Guard representative, Rear Admiral Richard Timme, what actions the Coast Guard was taking after the Los Angeles Times published an investigative story on November 12 stating the Coast Guard had often failed to implement safety recommendations from the NTSB. In response, Timme vowed the Coast Guard would "wholly fulfill our regulatory oversight role to keep the maritime public safe" and would adopt new regulations immediately after they are published by an internal task force developing inspection rules for vessels similar to Conception.
Rep. Salud Carbajal, whose district includes Santa Barbara, Rep. Julia Brownley, and Sen. Dianne Feinstein introduced the Small Passenger Vessel Safety Act of 2019 in December 2019 to mandate some of the recommended changes. The bills have been incorporated into the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021. The families of the victims have continued to advocate for legislation to implement the NTSB recommendations for improvements in fire and safety training and additional monitoring devices.
See also
- List of maritime disasters in the 21st century
- List of shipwrecks in 2019
- List of transportation fires
