By Bob Walsh
Slightly more than 4 years ago the worst maritime
disaster in recent U S history occurred when 34 people died on the
75-foot dive boat CONCEPTION off of Santa Barbara. The ships captain,
Jerry Boylan, is being tried for "seaman's manslaughter" and could get
10 years in the slammer if convicted.
Boylan's
lawyer has tried to put most of the fault off on the boat's owner, Glen
and Dana Fritzler. He asserts that it was Glen Fritzler and not Boylan
who was responsible for the lack of training and failure to post a
night watch on the boat. Fritzler was not on board the night of the
fire. The company owns and operates two other dive boats.
The
NTSB has determined that Boylan was in fact at fault in the fire for
failure to post a night watch. All 33 passengers and one crew member
were trapped below. Many of the bodies recovered were wearing shoes,
which led the investigators to believe they were awake and attempting to
escape. The NTSB also faulted the Coast Guard for failure to enforce
the night watch requirement on a regular basis. The families of many of
the victims are suing the coast guard over this issue. No citations
have been issued by the coast guard for this infraction since 1991.
The
boats owners, Truth Aquatics, Inc., filed a lawsuit in federal court
three days after the fire. If successful this suit limits the company
liability to the current value of the vessel, which is essentially
zero. The law on which the suit is based predates the civil war.
The
tragedy did result in new safety requirements on such boats including
new fire detection systems, extinguishers and escape routes. Both exits
to the boat were closed off by the fire below decks which MAY have been
caused by a gang cell phone charger system.
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