The USA’s National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has taken the opportunity of the fifth anniversary of the Conception diving liveaboard fire to criticise the US Coast Guard for its allegedly glacial response to calls for maritime safety measures to be tightened up before further lives are lost.
On 2 September, relatives of the 34 people who died trapped in a single bunk-room when the boat caught fire joined NTSB officials at the Conception memorial on the Santa Barbara seafront in California, both to honour those who died in 2019 and to renew calls for action.
The NTSB is empowered to investigate disasters and issue recommendations based on its findings, but cannot make regulations. It produced a report following the overnight fire off nearby Santa Cruz Island, in which all the passengers died while the captain and all but one of the crew escaped.
The board’s chair Jennifer Homendy, who had been at the scene of the fire, told the gathering that the safety recommendations it had issued four years ago “could have saved the 34 people who died on board the Conception”.
There had been four key recommendations for small passenger vessels – as Conception was classed – to observe and the Coast Guard to enforce, but Homendy said it had failed to take immediate action on these.
Only after Congress had mandated action in 2021 had it implemented an “interim final rule” – but nothing appeared to have happened since, she said, and it was still “years away” from that final rule.
4 key recommendations
The first of the four requirements was that liveaboards should have interconnected smoke and fire detectors in all accommodation spaces, so that when one detector went off it would set off the others in turn.
Inspection procedures should be implemented to verify that vessel owners and operators conduct roving patrols and ensure that the crew responsible stay awake.
A means of escape for passengers and crew into a space other than the primary exit should be provided and, finally, it should be ensured that emergency exits, including doors and hatches above bunk spaces, were not obstructed.
“What the Coast Guard has not done – which we have asked them to do since at least 2013 – is issue a regulation that requires all operators of US-flagged passenger vessels, including small passenger vessels, to implement a Safety Management System, or SMS,” said Homendy.
“In marine safety, SMS ensures compliance with existing regulations. It is a process to ensure that rules and procedures related to safe operations are in place. It covers preventive maintenance and emergency procedures, delineates chain of command and specifies crew-member duties and responsibilities like roving patrols.”
‘How many more times?’
The NTSB had first issued a recommendation to the Coast Guard for SMS related to ferries in 2003 and for all passenger vessels in 2012, following its investigations into two serious ferry accidents in New York that had resulted in multiple deaths and injuries. In 2010 Congress had asked the Coast Guard to require SMS for all passenger vessels.
“In a 2013 letter to the NTSB, the Coast Guard said they were initiating a rulemaking to require SMS,” said Homendy. “We heard nothing further.” She went on to cite further serious accidents that same year, and again in 2018.
“Then in 2019, a fire erupted on the Conception and 34 people die. How many times do we have to call on the Coast Guard to act? How many more people need to get injured? How many more people need to die? How many more times does Congress need to keep telling the Coast Guard to do something?” she said.
“The last we heard from the Coast Guard on SMS was their issuance of an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in January 2021, almost four years ago. The next stage is a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, then a Final Rule.
“We aren’t even at a Final Rule. That’s still years away. What is taking so long? It’s been years since our first recommendation! Families, friends have lost loved ones. These aren’t just statistics. They aren’t just numbers. These are people. Lives that will never be the same.”
Coast Guard response
The US Coast Guard “remains fully committed to ensuring the safety of passengers on all small passenger vessels“, it told Divernet. “In response to this tragedy and the NTSB’s subsequent safety recommendations, we have implemented a series of significant passenger safety improvements over the past five years directly targeted at preventing future casualties.
“These include enhancements in smoke detection, emergency escape routes, firefighting training requirements and roving watch requirements.
“Additionally, the Coast Guard is actively advancing the rulemaking process to mandate Safety Management Systems on US-flagged passenger vessels, which is an important high-priority initiative. We continue to work closely with vessel operators and other stakeholders to ensure compliance with safety regulations and to advance best practices across the industry.
“The Coast Guard is deeply saddened by the tragedy resulting in this devastating loss of life. Our hearts go out to the victims, as well as their families and friends.
“Our efforts are ongoing, and we remain dedicated to preventing future tragedies through rigorous oversight, improved safety measures and collaboration with partners and the public.”
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