The diving boat Conception burns off the coast of Santa Cruz island on Sept. 2, 2019. Photo released by the


Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Office. From Wikimedia Commons


The incident is still being investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board and others, and it could be months until final reports are available on what started the fire. The Coast Guard issued a safety bulletin to operators of passenger vessels about a week after the fire, with reminders to always educate passengers about safety protocols; to ensure that escape routes are functional, labeled, and clear; and to limit the unsupervised charging of lithium- ion batteries and extensive use of power strips and extension cords. This last recommendation has supported speculation that the Conception fire could likely have been caused by a series of electrical outlets in the galley/mess area with too many electronic devices plugged in for overnight charging.


As a builder of world-class expedition yachts headquartered in Southern California, we were rattled on multiple levels by this horrific loss of life at sea so close to home. Initially it was grief and compassion for the families and friends of those lost, who obviously had a passion for diving—shared by many of us and many owners of our yachts.


Then came introspection. What about our boats? Our escape routes? Our fire-prevention systems? Our educational efforts? Even though as a recreational builder we follow a different set


of boatbuilding standards than a builder for a small commercial passenger vessel like the Conception, surely a stringent review of our designs and procedures could only benefit our boat owners, their loved ones and passengers, and our company.


Newspaper headlines right after the incident gave us some direction: “Lack of escape routes in California boat fire becomes focus as investigation intensifies”; “California dive-boat fire highlights need for more than one exit from sleeping quarters”; and “Some Conception passengers said they weren’t told about emergency escape hatch.”


Clearly, escape routes were getting serious attention, and we wanted to be sure we knew the latest standards and were ready to answer any questions current or future owners might have. In ABYC H3 and ISO 9094:2017, we discovered a couple of areas that deserved immediate action. One was for a deck hatch planned for a brand-new model in production that would have to be designated as a second means of escape. The planned hatch with flush fittings would require a winch to open from the outside, so the specification was changed to a hatch that could be opened from the inside and outside without any tools. Another discovery was that some owners might put a carpet over an interior-deck escape hatch,


or a dinghy or other item over an exterior escape hatch; those areas would need to be addressed in our owner education, manuals, and escape route drawings.


Lastly, we held a training session to keep all managers, engineers, technical writers, and others up to date on escape routes, especially because our semi-custom boats can change a lot from one project to the next, often affecting escape- route planning. In this session, one question kept coming up: Is being “compliant” enough? It can be a challenging question.


Certainly we have a solid procedure to ensure compliance with ABYC, ISO, and even ABS, MCA, and other entities. But is it really enough if the boat is on fire and someone needs to get out right now? I think our answer is embedded in the mandate that concluded our training session: all should voice their concern at the highest level if they are in any way worried our efforts can be—or need to be—improved for the safety of our boat owners, even if those efforts go above and beyond what is required for compliance.


This article is republished with kind permission of Mike Telleria and first appeared in Professional Boatbuilder February/March 2020 edition.


The Report • March 2020 • Issue 91 | 87


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104