On the 2nd of September, 2019, the dive boat Conception was moored overnight off the coast
of Santa Cruz Island. On board were six members of crew and 33 passengers – all of them sound asleep
after a day spent diving in the beautiful waters of the Pacific Ocean. Shortly after midnight,
a small electrical fault would begin a chain of events that would destroy this peaceful scene,
and result in one of the worst accidents ever to take place in the waters off California.
Truth Aquatics was a family-owned and operated company based in Santa Barbara,
which owned three boats: the Conception, the Truth, and the Vision. These vessels were used
to offer liveaboard diving trips – excursions where passengers would spend several days living
on board one of these boats and carrying out numerous supervised dives in different locations.
Truth Aquatics had an excellent reputation, and was respected as
one of the best operators in its sector. Testament to the quality of service it
offered were its many loyal and repeat customers. Worldwide Dive Adventures,
a tour operator, had been chartering trips from Truth Aquatics for around 30 years as of 2019.
Because of this, Truth Aquatics was the obvious choice when Worldwide Dive Adventures organised a
three-day trip for 33 customers over the course of the Labour Day weekend of 2019. Passengers
came aboard late on the evening of the 30th of August, and the vessel got underway in the
early hours of the 31st of August, anchoring at its first dive location shortly after dawn.
After breakfast, a safety briefing was held. As a crewmember was telling passengers about the
fire safety features of their home for the next few days, one passenger fainted. They
were given first aid, and soon made a full recovery, but when the briefing resumed it
moved directly on to the matter of safety during dives. No fire evacuation drill was carried out.
Over the next few days passengers enjoyed several dives. These were conducted during
the day at various locations around Santa Cruz Island. In the evening, passengers shared meals
in the galley, then retired to bed in the below deck bunk room. Cellphones and
diving equipment would be recharged overnight using several sockets located in the galley.
In the early hours of the 2nd of September the second galleyhand on board the Conception
had trouble sleeping. At 1:30am he went to the galley and spent some time cleaning – something
he often did when he could not sleep – before returning to bed. He was awoken again, however,
less than an hour later by what sounded to him like a passenger falling over in the galley.
The galleyhand left his bunk to try and assist… but was confronted by the sight
of an established fire, which had already consumed a large section of the main deck.
The galleyhand quickly woke four other crewmembers who were sleeping on the upper deck – including
the Captain. Over the next few minutes, these crewmembers made several attempts to access
the lower decks via windows or doors… but in each case were forced back by smoke or flames.
In the end, they were forced to jump down to a lower deck,
with one of them misjudging the distance and breaking his leg in the process. While the
others continued to try and reach the passenger bunk room, the Captain alerted the Coast Guard:
“Mayday, Mayday, Mayday. Conception, Platts Harbor, north side Santa Cruz... 39 P-O-B.
I can’t breathe. 39 P-O-B. Platts.” This was all the Captain was able to
transmit before smoke forced him to jump from the wheelhouse into the ocean. As he did so,
he drew with him a trail of smoke – the sight of which convinced the remaining crew that he was on
fire when he jumped. One crewmember dived in to assist him, and was soon followed by the others.
Once it had been ascertained that the Captain was not seriously injured,
two crewmembers re-boarded the boat. Again, their attempts to reach passengers failed,
and they resorted to launching the emergency skiff from the rear of the boat.
After getting the crew on board this skiff, they motored to the
nearest other vessel – a privately-owned pleasure boat named The Grape Escape.
The crew woke up the owners of The Grape Escape, and used their equipment to place further distress
calls. The Coast Guard already had resources underway… but had misinterpreted the Captain’s
original message. His report that he could not breathe had indicated to them a medical emergency,
not a fire, and so it was only now that resources for firefighting were mobilised.
The crew used the skiff to search the waters around the blazing boat, but it was to no
avail. The Conception was now entirely consumed by flames, and was burning down to the waterline.
As firefighting boats arrived on scene, the Conception’s anchor line burned through and the
boat began to drift. It floated into an area of shallow water, and had to be towed back out before
firefighting boats could get close enough to fully extinguish it. As dawn broke, the fire was finally
put out, and the wreck was towed back towards the island, but sank completely before reaching land.
Though the search for survivors continued for some time, none were found.
In total the accident had taken the lives of 33 passengers and one crew member,
all of whom had died in the lower deck bunk room on board the burning boat.
Despite a lengthy investigation by the Coast Guard and the National Transportation Safety Board,
it was not possible to definitively determine the source of ignition. It was, however,
considered very likely that the fire had begun in the salon where passenger cellphones and other
devices were charging unattended overnight. Devices which contain lithium batteries,
like cellphones or cameras, can usually be charged without issue… but if the battery
is defective or damaged there is a possibility that the device may become hot, or even explode.
Indeed, this exact thing had happened on the Conception’s sister ship the Vision in 2018:
a battery charger exploded, requiring passengers to use firefighting equipment to prevent a fire.
Whether the fire was caused by a faulty battery, or by a fault with other equipment on board the
Conception, the fact remained that it should not have been able to develop undiscovered to
the point that it was uncontrollable. Any boat which passengers occupy overnight is
required by law to have a roving watchman – a member of crew who remains awake and
patrols the vessel to ensure that all is well while others on board are asleep.
This requirement had been in place for more than a century. In the case of Truth Aquatics,
it was down to the Captain of each individual ship to ensure that it was adhered to. The Captain of
the Conception had incorrectly believed that having one crewmember sleep in the passenger
bunk room satisfied the requirement for a watchman. This was incorrect – to be
acceptable the crewmember would have needed to remain awake and patrol the whole of the boat.
Additionally, the emergency exit from the bunk room was found to be inadequate. It
consisted of a narrow, inaccessible hatch above a bunk that lead up into the galley,
and which therefore would have been of no use to passengers even if they had been able to access
it. The positioning of smoke alarms, the lack of linked smoke alarms, and the use of some flammable
materials such as plastic chairs and rubber bins were also criticised by investigators.
In the aftermath of the disaster, Truth Aquatics made a number of changes to
its two remaining vessels. More robust fire detection systems were installed,
emergency exits were significantly improved, and fireproof cabinets were installed within which
equipment could be safely charged. Roving patrols were also instituted on board both vessels,
along with a system for monitoring and logging that these patrols were indeed taking place.
Despite making these changes, Truth Aquatics also voluntarily ceased operations in the wake of the
disaster, with no plans to resume at any point. A permanent memorial to those who lost their lives
in the disaster was put in place the following year. The fire on board the Conception is
recognised as the most deadly maritime disaster to take place in the US in more than 30 years,
and the most deadly ever to take place in the waters off California. The loss of so many people
has touched thousands of lives – an uncountable number of friends, family members, children,
grandchildren and colleagues are all now missing the presence of a loved one in their lives.
Despite the shock and loss caused by the disaster, many relatives and friends of
survivors have worked tirelessly in the months and years since. The National Transportation
Safety Board has suggested numerous changes that would prevent a similar disaster – changes
such as a requirement for interlinked smoke alarms, and routine checks by the
Coast Guard that roving patrols are in place. The loved ones of those who lost their lives on
board the Conception have campaigned ever since for those suggestions to be enshrined in law.