Recovery continues Tuesday in dive boat fire that left 34 presumed dead in Channel Islands
Rescue crews continued Tuesday morning trying to recover the remains of victims near Santa Cruz Island in one of California’s worst boating incidents in history.
The lives of 34 people are presumed lost, trapped on board a burning diving vessel as it sank early Monday off of the Ventura County coast.
A trip that was supposed to be filled with the beauty of the ocean, exploring the underwater world of the Channel Islands National Park, was instead marred in tragedy.
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By late Monday evening, the Associated Press reported the bodies of 25 victims had been located. Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Matthew Kroll told the Associated Press that 20 bodies had been pulled from the wreckage so far and five others had been located but not recovered because of unsafe conditions.
Rescuers scoured the waters and dove about the wreckage of the 75-foot-long scuba-diving vessel, the Conception, which had rolled upside down on the ocean floor in about 60 feet of water on the north end of Santa Cruz Island.
“We have dive teams working to recover them, but the boat remains unstable,” Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said at a press conference Monday afternoon.
Coroner vans could be seen at the Santa Barbara Harbor late Monday.
“We should be prepared for the worst outcome,” said U.S. Coast Guard Captain Monica Rochester.
The identities of the victims were not being released yet until family members can be notified. A press conference was scheduled at the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department’s headquarters at 10 a.m. Tuesday.
Flowers filled a fence line at the Sea Landing in Santa Barbara Harbor where Truth Aquatics operated the Conception along with two other vessels. Next to flowers was a set of fins with the words written on one of them, “We love you Conception.”
Another note with flowers near the entrance to the dock said, “Our hearts are with the divers of the Conception and all those who loved them.”
Rochester said the vessel was in good standing with the Coast Guard, which performs inspections annually on such boats. The dive boat operators, too, had a good reputation, said Thomas Kruger, director of scuba operations at Dive N’ Surf in Redondo Beach, who is familiar with the company and the vessel.
“This has been way out of left field,” Kruger said.
Former passengers, including actor Rob Lowe, shared condolences on social media.
“My heart breaks for those onboard the Conception,” Lowe wrote on Twitter. “An unspeakable horror on a boat I’ve been on many times. My prayers and thoughts are with the families.”
My heart breaks for those onboard the Conception. An unspeakable horror on a boat I’ve been on many times. My prayers and thoughts are with the families.
— Rob Lowe (@RobLowe) September 2, 2019
Kim Sheckler said her husband Dale was supposed to be on board the Conception for that very trip – a three-day excursion that left early Saturday, Aug. 31 – but cancelled when he had to receive a second hip surgery.
“We believe it was divine intervention that spared him from being aboard that boat,” she wrote by email.
The couple formerly published California Diving News and have written many dive guides over the years. She said they raised three sons diving aboard the Truth Aquatics boats over the past 35 years.
The popular dive boat that has been a mainstay in the Santa Barbara Harbor for decades was carrying 33 passengers and six crew members on a three-day diving trip to the Channel Islands over Labor Day weekend.
The 38-year-old boat was anchored in Platts Harbor at the north end of Santa Cruz Island when a fire broke out shortly before 3:30 a.m. A frantic mayday call, apparently from one of the crew members captured by a marine radio, revealed the urgency in the situation.
“Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!” a voice could be heard.
“I can’t breath,” he said later barely audible in haste.
After making the mayday call, five out of six crew members, including the captain, escaped the burning vessel — some with injuries — and sought help from a nearby boat. The passengers were apparently trapped. The boat sank about 7:20 a.m., according to the Coast Guard.
Initial reports said the first four passengers discovered had injuries consistent with drowning. Autopsy results for the remaining passengers will take time.
More loved ones of the victims were expected to arrive Tuesday to a family assistance center located a short distance from the harbor to receive updated information, further details about the incident and support. Roughly 15 families came to the center Monday with more showing up in the afternoon, said Suzanne Grimmese, a spokeswoman for Santa Barbara County Department of Behavioral Wellness spokeswoman.
“We are used to working together as a team after traumatic events and disasters,” said Grimmesey, referring to the response to the Woolsey Fire and the Borderline Bar and Grill shooting. “A family assistance center opens up when there is a mass casualty event or a situation where we don’t know exactly what happened.”