The captain of the MV Conception liveaboard, which burned to the waterline in 2019, killing 33 passengers and one crew member, is standing trial for the disaster in a Los Angeles court.
Jerry Boylan, 68, pleaded not guilty to misconduct or neglect of a ship’s officer, also known as seaman’s manslaughter.
The MV Conception disaster happened on the final day of a three-day voyage through the Channel Islands, a popular scuba diving spot off the coast of California. The 23m (75ft) vessel was moored overnight off Santa Cruz Island when it caught fire on the night of 2 September 2019.
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The victims of the fire were initially thought to have died from smoke inhalation in their cabins, situated on the lower deck of the vessel, before the flames properly took hold. Video footage from the deceased passengers’ mobile phones, however, showed that some were awake and searching for an exit before they succumbed to the smoke. The emergency exits from the sleeping quarters were found to have been blocked.
The US National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) official report concluded that the blaze probably began in the Conception’s saloon, where electrical devices had been left to charge overnight.
The authority was unable to definitively state that this was the cause, however, and a later report published in the Los Angeles Times suggested it may have started after an incompletely extinguished cigarette was emptied from an ashtray into a small plastic bin.
The NTSB also found that Captain Boylan was at fault for not maintaining a proper overnight watch, and the boat’s owners, Truth Aquatics, were at fault for failing to ensure fire detection systems were functioning and emergency exits were accessible.
The disaster constituted the worst maritime loss of life in California for more than 150 years. Captain Boylan denies any wrongdoing.
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