Dive Pacific Iss 171 Oct- Nov 2019
New Zealand's dive magazine featuring in this issue: Shooting big sharks, up close; Spearfishing at night!; Remembering a great Kiwi dive pioneer, Wade Doak; Forgotten Vanuatu wreck's claim to fame; The invasive Lionfish - in depth, plus all our expert columnists
New Zealand's dive magazine featuring in this issue: Shooting big sharks, up close; Spearfishing at night!; Remembering a great Kiwi dive pioneer, Wade Doak; Forgotten Vanuatu wreck's claim to fame; The invasive Lionfish - in depth, plus all our expert columnists
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
<strong>Dive</strong> boat tragedy kills 34 off<br />
California coast<br />
Investigators in the US have<br />
been examining potential<br />
ignition sources, including<br />
overloaded electronics<br />
causing a short, of the deadly<br />
fire that swept through the<br />
scuba dive boat Conception<br />
off the coast of Southern<br />
California killing 34 people on<br />
board.<br />
The boat was gutted and sank<br />
in 20 metres of water before<br />
dawn on Monday September 2nd<br />
while anchored off Santa Cruz<br />
Island.<br />
Jennifer Homendy, a member of the<br />
US National Transportation Safety<br />
Board, said she had inspected a<br />
vessel similar to the Conception<br />
and was concerned about the<br />
accessibility of its emergency exit<br />
hatch and possible difficulties<br />
getting to safety.<br />
Other officials reportedly said<br />
those who died were below deck<br />
after flames blocked the one<br />
stairway and the hatch leading<br />
from sleeping bunks to the upper<br />
decks, giving those below virtually<br />
no chance of getting out.<br />
But preliminary findings on the<br />
causes of death, announced by<br />
Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill<br />
Brown, raise the possibility the<br />
victims inhaled highly toxic smoke<br />
and died in their sleep before being<br />
burned beyond recognition. Twentythree<br />
of the 33 bodies recovered<br />
were identified through DNA.<br />
The Conception’s captain and four<br />
other crew members were asleep<br />
above deck at the time and jumped<br />
overboard. They told investigators<br />
of trying to go back to help<br />
those who died, but being driven<br />
back by flames, heat and smoke.<br />
They could not get to firefighting<br />
equipment because everything was<br />
engulfed.<br />
Officials said the Conception had<br />
been in full compliance with Coast<br />
Guard regulations.<br />
Victims included a prominent<br />
marine environmental scientist<br />
and her husband, high schoolers,<br />
a hairdresser, a marine biologist,<br />
software engineers, a special<br />
effects designer for Disney, nature<br />
photographer, nurse and a family<br />
of five celebrating a birthday. They<br />
were all on a planned three-day<br />
excursion to the Channel Islands.<br />
The four crew members were<br />
tested for alcohol, which were<br />
negative, and all five survivors had<br />
drug tests with the results pending.<br />
The Conception wasn’t required<br />
by federal regulations to have fire<br />
sprinklers aboard, according to the<br />
US Coast Guard.<br />
Other California divers have said<br />
Truth Aquatics, which owned the<br />
Conception, and its captains, were<br />
very safety-conscious and the<br />
tragedy shocked the industry. The<br />
boat’s owner and others were interviewed<br />
for hours as the National<br />
Transportation Safety Board investigated<br />
the fire.<br />
Later in Santa Barabara 34<br />
scuba tanks lined the stage<br />
where thousands gathered to<br />
remember those who had died.<br />
Truth Aquatics pre-emptively<br />
filed a lawsuit Thursday under<br />
a pre-Civil War provision of<br />
maritime law that could protect<br />
it from potentially costly pay<br />
outs to families of the dead,<br />
a move condemned by some<br />
observers as disrespectful and<br />
callous.<br />
DV005<br />
SOUNDINGS<br />
LOCAL & INTERNATIONAL<br />
With decades of world wide experience in<br />
high pressure breathing air compressors, fill<br />
stations, and air storage, the Italian designed<br />
and manufactured Coltri ® compressors are<br />
the professional’s choice for durable and<br />
reliable breathing air systems.<br />
Air Technology was established in 1982 to<br />
meet the needs of many diverse applications,<br />
including SCUBA, SCBA, Fire Stations, Police,<br />
Military, Rescue Units, Paintball, Shipboard<br />
Breathing Air and Industrial and Recreational<br />
Breathing Air applications.<br />
PARTS AND CONSUMABLES<br />
Filter cartridges • Activated carbon • Molecular<br />
sieve • Filter felt pads • Synthetic lubricant.<br />
SPARE PARTS<br />
• Coltri • Bauer •Poseidon • Bristol • Midland<br />
Diving Equipment<br />
We can also build CUSTOM SYSTEMS<br />
to fit unique customer needs.<br />
Contact us now: Ross Irvine. P:09-478 9995<br />
M: 021 678 359 E: ross@airtec.co.nz<br />
5/20 Constellation Drive, Mairangi Bay,<br />
Auckland. e: sales@airtec.co.nz<br />
High Pressure Compressor Specialists<br />
www.divecompressors.co.nz<br />
www.dive-pacific.com 7