Boat where 34 died among 322 exempted from U.S. Coast Guard fire safety rules
LOS ANGELES — The Conception, on which 34 people died in a Labor Day fire off the Santa Barbara coast, was among more than 100 California boats exempted from strict U.S. Coast Guard rules adopted more than two decades ago to improve passenger safety during emergencies, according to a Los Angeles Times data analysis.
U.S. Coast Guard records show that 11 boats classified solely for diving — including eight in California — were given special exemptions from the 1996 safety standards, which were prompted by a series of fires and other accidents that had killed dozens in the previous 30 years. The grandfathering provision meant those boats didn’t have to make changes such as adding larger escape hatches and enhanced fire prevention systems.
An examination of boating records shows that 322 small passenger vessels nationwide built before 1996 are exempted from those rules. One-third of them are based in California.
The Coast Guard’s oversight has come under scrutiny after the Conception disaster, in which 33 divers and one crew member were trapped below deck and died while on a three-day excursion around the Channel Islands.
The Times reported last month that the Coast Guard repeatedly ignored National Transportation Safety Board recommendations to improve fire safety measures for small passenger boats for two decades. Three California members of Congress introduced legislation this month to require the vessels to have at least two escape exits, strengthen standards for fire alarm systems and create mandatory safety rules for the handling and storage of phones, cameras and other electronic devices with lithium-ion batteries.
The Times’ data analysis raised alarms with several in California’s congressional delegation. Democratic Rep. Julia Brownley of Westlake Village said in a statement that Congress “must eliminate the hazards posed by boats grandfathered in under outdated safety regulations.”
Democratic Rep. Salud Carbajal of Santa Barbara) called the Times’ findings “concerning.”
The old safety standards paint “a clear picture of why we need immediate action to modernize our regulations,” he said in a statement. “I know we must take the necessary steps to ensure our vessels and waters are safe for all who use them.”
The 1996 rules require vessels to have an escape hatch of at least 32 inches wide and illuminated exit signs. The Conception, built in 1981, had an escape hatch that was only 24 inches wide, several federal regulators who requested anonymity in order to speak on the matter told the Times last month. It also did not have illuminated exit signs, though they are required for boats built after 1996.
Federal officials investigating the worst maritime disaster in modern California history immediately homed in on the functionality of the two exits in the area where passengers slept in stacked bunks beneath the waterline. NTSB investigator Jennifer Homendy told the Times in September that she was “taken aback” by the small size of the emergency escape hatches on the Conception’s sister vessel, adding that she thought it would be difficult for passengers to exit during an emergency in the dark.
A preliminary investigation of the Conception fire found major breakdowns in required safety procedures on the vessel owned by Truth Aquatics, including inadequate crew training and the absence of a roving night watch, which is required at all times while passenger bunks are occupied to alert people sleeping below deck of an emergency.
Of the eight diving vessels in Southern California that are exempted from the 1996 Coast Guard rules, five are docked in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area. Two are in Santa Barbara and one is in San Diego. Three additional grandfathered diving vessels are in Florida, records show. Each of the 11 vessels can accommodate between 12 and 49 overnight passengers. The three Florida dive boats are licensed to accommodate only 12 or 13 passengers, records show.