The sinking of MV Conception occurred on September 2, 2019, when the 75-foot (23 m)

dive boat caught fire and eventually sank off the coast of Santa Cruz Island,
California, United States. The boat was anchored in Platts Harbor, a small
undeveloped bay on the north shore of the island, with over 30 passengers asleep
below decks when fire broke out shortly after 3 a.m. Five of the crew members, who
were awake, escaped and were picked up by a nearby boat. The loss of the ship
spurred a rescue operation by the United States Coast Guard.[1][2]

Contents
1 Boat
2 Fire
3 Victims
4 Investigation
5 Aftermath
6 See also
7 References
8 External links
Boat
MV Conception was a 75-foot (23 m) liveaboard boat built in Long Beach, California
and launched in 1981.[3] It was one of three dive boats owned by Truth Aquatics,
which operates charter excursions from Santa Barbara Harbor for groups of divers
interested in exploring the Channel Islands, located close to the coast of Southern
California by Los Angeles and Santa Barbara.[4] MV Conception was under charter to
Worldwide Diving Adventures (WDA) for a three-day scuba-diving voyage over the
Labor Day holiday weekend, which was one of WDA's most popular diving tour
packages.[5][6][7]

Conception was believed to be in compliance with all regulations and did not have
any violations of note. The boat had been refurbished at a cost of more than $1
million following an incident in 2005 when it had been stolen and run aground. It
could sleep, on the lower deck, up to 46 individuals with 13 double bunks (12 of
which were stacked in twos) and 20 single bunks (18 stacked in threes) with one
labeled as reserved for crew.[3][8] The rest of the crew berths were located two
decks above, just aft of the wheel house and above the main deck galley.

Fire
On the night of the fire, a crew member awoke to the sound of a pop in the dark and
believed it to be a disoriented crew member or passenger. Upon leaving his bed to
attempt to aid the individual, he discovered the ship was on fire.[8] Five of the
six crew members were able to escape the vessel and paddled out to other boats
nearby. One of those who managed to escape the vessel was the ship's captain, who
claimed the rear escape hatch was engulfed in fire and the surviving crew could do
nothing to help the passengers.[9][10]

They put out a mayday alert from one of the vessels and used a small inflatable
boat to attempt to search for survivors.[8] While waiting for aid, small explosions
were heard from the Conception, believed by the crew to be caused by the
pressurized dive cylinders rupturing from the heat of the fire.[6] A distress call
reportedly sent from the Conception suggested that at least one individual below
deck was awake, as a man's voice is recorded screaming "Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! I
can't breathe!"[11] However, Glen Fritzler the owner of Truth Aquatics clarified
that the call where the caller states "I can't breathe" was made by the captain of
the Conception and was made from the wheelhouse.[12]

Coast Guard crews, the Ventura County and Santa Barbara County Fire Departments,
and Vessel Assist responded to a mayday call of a boat engulfed in flames that they
had received at 3:30 am.[13] Officials struggled to fight the fire, as the ship was
in a remote location with limited firefighting capabilities, passengers were
sleeping below deck, and the fire was quick-moving. In order to attempt to fight
the fire and allow for fireboats to reach the vessel, it was towed out to deeper
water by a TowBoatUS ship.[14] The ship sank about four hours later,[6] to a depth
of 64 feet (20 m) approximately 20 yards (18 m) from the north shore of the Santa
Cruz Island.[5]

Victims
As of September 2, Coast Guard divers located 25 bodies, while nine other people
remained missing. Four bodies were initially recovered from the water, and another
sixteen were pulled from the sunken hull later. Another five bodies were visible in
the vessel but unreachable because of concerns about unsafe conditions on the boat.
[14] The Coast Guard suspended search efforts on the morning of September 3, as it
required the wreckage to be stabilized before searching it for further bodies. The
unaccounted victims have been presumed dead.[15][10] By September 4, all but one of
the bodies had been recovered, with around thirty local divers and members of the
Federal Bureau of Investigation assisting in the search for the last body.[16]

Most of the victims were from California, but a couple from Arizona were believed
among the victims.[17] Two of the victims are believed to be students.[18] It is
believed that the youngest victims are 17 and the oldest were in their 60s, with a
majority of the victims from Santa Cruz and the Bay Area.[19] DNA was collected
from family members to identify the bodies.[20]

Investigation
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) launched a "go team" on September 3
to the accident, including a board member, to investigate. The on-scene portion of
the investigation is scheduled to last for ten days, with the objective to
determine the cause of the fire and verify the safety measures that had been aboard
Conception.[17] The NTSB and other authorities used the Conception's sister ship
Vision, also owned by Truth Aquatics, to evaluate the situation in the fire.[16]

Truth Aquatics was considered a respectable business in the area, with their boats
in good condition, according to state Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson, who represents
the Santa Barbara area.[17] U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein called for an
investigation into the incident and specifically wants to address the training of
the crew and why they were not able to rescue or alert the passengers. She also
wants to see if additional regulations are needed to prevent similar tragedies in
the future. She is quoted as stating; "It's inconceivable that with all the safety
regulations we have in place today, a fire on a boat can lead to the loss of life
we saw this morning near Santa Cruz Island,"[21][22]

Aftermath
California Governor Gavin Newsom issued a statement through Twitter praising the
efforts of the emergency medical workers and offering his condolences to the
families and loved ones affected.[11]

A makeshift memorial was created outside the headquarters of Truth Aquatics in

Santa Barbara Harbor.[14][16]