Posted on 09/03/2019 6:56:09 AM PDT by libstripper
LOS ANGELES - The 75-foot dive boat Conception was considered one of the best of its kind in the region, and both it and its operator, Truth Aquatics Inc., were in compliance with U.S. Coast Guard regulations.
That all changed Monday in the flash of a predawn fire near Santa Cruz Island, when the Conception sank in flames, taking with it more than 30 people who were below deck in bunk beds, apparently unable to get out.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
I was alluding to the combo of the boat name, company name and location and how they fit together. Some here take things personally for reasons unknown
Luckily for the crew, they saved themselves. I suspect the investigation will uncover their either action or inaction to save the passengers. At first glance, it seems they were more interested in saving themselves.
The news reports said the crew was up making breakfast when the fire broke out.
Is this the same galley where the charging station(s) were located?
EAN32 or EAN36? Bottom mix, transit mix, or deco mix? How about a little custom mixing for Trimix?
Been there, done that. Lots of fun but too old for that now. It’s a young man’s game.
But you fill the tanks with compressed air, not oxygen. In the early 1970’s I was a deputy sheriff with Maricopa County Divers Posse. We recovered many drowned victims on the lakes and rivers around Phoenix, Arizona. We were always required to have a display at the State Fair. A number of fellows would come by and say they were frogmen in WWII and after. We would chat them up and then they would ask how much oxygen we had in our tanks. We would explain how much air we had in the tanks and breathing oxygen at depth would substantially shorten your lifespan.
Thanks!
Has anyone said how deep the bottom is where they were diving? Wouldn’t they have to be diving pretty deep to require Nitrox?
Bear in mind - the boat did a night dive (probably) with snacks, birthday parties and clean up the galley the night before. The cook is up working from 4:30 am to 11 pm about every day on a multi day trip. Hell, I’d make 450 bucks in tips on a 34 passenger 2 day 20 years ago as cook and divemaster and get in 3 dives a day for free as well cuz I m crew
You can use Nitrox shallower than its MOD (max operating depth) you cannot use it deeper than spec. Anchor was at 64 ft depth
Oxygen was probably involved in the ferocity of the fire at the very least.
They were probably hauling a lot of it on board too.
“But you fill the tanks with compressed air, not oxygen. “
Air contains oxygen. Nitrox contains even more oxygen.
“breathing oxygen at depth would substantially shorten your lifespan.”
OTOH, Not breathing oxygen substantially shortens your life.
“Has anyone said how deep the bottom is where they were diving? Wouldn’t they have to be diving pretty deep to require Nitrox?”
You cannot go deep with Nitrox. Research max operating depth Nitrox air mixtures.
Thanks for the info.
It sounds like that in all likelihood, everyone aboard, crew included, was still sleeping when the fire broke out.
If you'll indulge me with one more question. I'm a USCG vet. We always kept a 24-hour watch, even when in port. Would this boat have something similar?
Sometimes yes and sometimes no on the 24 hour anchor watch. The captains (primary) concern at anchorage is to make sure the boat stays in position. Slipping the anchor close to shore and running aground is never good either.
Here’s my personal thoughts on that. The crew on a multi day trip like this one is always challenged to make sure the emergency exits are never blocked with passenger gear. One minute you’ve rearranged coolers, bags, clothing, dive gear etc to clear an exit path, and 10 minutes later, the E exit is blocked again because someone went thru their bag to get their toothbrush and unknowingly moved heavy stuff back over the hatch. There is peer pressure to “just relax, man it’s all good, you worry too much” - nuff said as I wasn’t there.
I’ll tell you one thing - the Coast Guard is going to go off on somebody. The nightwatch yes or no question will be a big one. I’ve heard from an insider that there was no watch that night but I find that hard to believe. 50 yards from a rocky shoreline at night anchorage? The Captain himself was probably up all night and you’ve got a second Captain as well on a multi day trip. Your night watch crew member is going to be a deckhand and she or he should be using a checklist when making rounds every 30 minutes which include anchor status, flooding, unnecessary power equipment secured, everything tied down? Slip and fall hazards? Unplug fully charged lithium batteries. and E exit blockage. You’d be surprised- people get up in the middle of the night and go thru their bags. Rearranging and blocking hatches cleared not 10 minutes ago.
Any reporters or friends of the Clintons on board?
“The self-righteous little baby children on FR continue to remind me of how smart they are, instead. of as you just did simply posting an answer.”
LOL! You don’t have to be a genius to actually read the article!
“A very good boat and organization!”
Some might not agree.
I’ll tell you one thing - the Coast Guard is going to go off on somebody. The nightwatch yes or no question will be a big one.
Yeah, I'll bet that will be a biggie. I'm also interested in hearing the account of the crew members who made it off the boat.
Your night watch crew member is going to be a deckhand and she or he should be using a checklist when making rounds every 30 minutes which include anchor status, flooding, unnecessary power equipment secured, everything tied down? Slip and fall hazards? Unplug fully charged lithium batteries. and E exit blockage. You’d be surprised- people get up in the middle of the night and go thru their bags. Rearranging and blocking hatches cleared not 10 minutes ago.
As I wrote, when a LIPO goes up, it happens very quickly and without warning. It's a very hot burning, hard to extinguish fire that puts out dense clouds of toxic white smoke. It's possible that, even with a watch occurring on schedule, the fire could start and quickly get out of control. I'm talking seconds here, not minutes. So, even if the E exit weren't blocked, the odds of the passengers finding their way out would be almost impossible, especially with panic setting in.
Here's the real danger in a situation like that. As I wrote, consumer-grade LIPOs have the protection circuit. The packs w/o the circuit are considered hobby-grade. You can charge hobby-grade LIPOs without the circuit, but it requires the use of a smart charger. This could be in the form of a human being, as was the case in the early days of R/C model LIPO usage. (circa-2000) Or, you can use a smart charger that monitors all the cell voltages and adjusts input to each cell accordingly. There are no consumer-grade smart chargers.
Since consumer-grade LIPOs have the protection circuit, the charger can be a dumb charger that simply uses a pre-determined schedule to charge the batteries. This is what all modern consumer-grade electronic devices use.
Here's the catch. If you use a hobby-grade LIPO with a modern dumb charger, it almost guarantees that, at some point, you'll have a LIPO conflagration due to cell imbalance. Here's the double catch. There is no way to visually distinguish a good LIPO that has the circuit from the cheap chicom knock-off w/o the circuit.
Thanks for the LIPO education. I’m interested to know where the Emergency Exit opened up to - the bow or someplace outside on deck? Knowledgeable people now say the Emergency Exit opens to the galley. That would be bad
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