Crew was asleep when fatal boat fire ignited, officials say

All six crew members were asleep aboard a scuba diving boat off the Southern California coast in violation of Coast Guard rules when a fire broke out in the middle of the night, killing 34 people who were trapped in a bunkroom below the main deck, US authorities have said.

The National Transportation Safety Board's preliminary report said five crew members, including the captain, were sleeping in their quarters behind the wheelhouse on the second deck of the boat and another was asleep below deck with the passengers when the fire started.

The five above board survived and the other, a 26-year-old woman who had recently started working on the Conception, was killed. The cause of the September 2 blaze has yet to be determined.

Crews raised the wreckage of the burned-out boat on Thursday from waters off Santa Cruz Island where the vessel was anchored the night of the tragedy. The island is northwest of Los Angeles and about 20 miles (32 kilometres) from the mainland.

Boats like the Conception are required to have a roving watchman while passengers sleep, Coast Guard Petty Officer Mark Barney said. Crew members can take shifts as long as someone always is awake and aware of what's happening on the vessel and in the waters around it.

"A roving watch is someone who is readily available to respond to emergencies at sea," Barney said.

Federal authorities are conducting a criminal investigation and could bring charges under a statute known as seaman's manslaughter.

The law was enacted during the 19th century to punish negligent captains, engineers and pilots for deadly steamboat accidents that killed thousands.

Douglas Schwartz, an attorney for the Conception's owner, Truth Aquatics Inc, said in a statement that a crew member was awake shortly before the fire, which started around 3 am. He said the crewman checked "on and around the galley area" around 2.30 am. The first mayday call from the captain was transmitted at 3.14 am.

He also touted the company's safety record, noting it passed "every single annual Coast Guard inspection for the last 45 years, while hosting 450,000 divers on 1.3 million dives."
"I would say that he's emotionally devastated," Lipman said. "It's a tragedy."
"No watch? A boat that far offshore?" Michael Turndorf asked. "I think that fits the statute. I would be surprised if those are the real circumstances that somebody doesn't get charged."
They were forced to jump overboard when they became "overwhelmed by smoke."