The captain of the dive boat Conception, Jerry Boylan, was sentenced to four years in prison at a Los Angeles federal court for one count of misconduct or neglect of ship officer, also known as “seaman’s manslaughter”. The fatal fire that killed all 33 passengers and one crew member happened on September 2, 2019, while the boat was anchored off Santa Cruz Island. Boylan was accused of failing to perform his duties as the captain by abandoning the ship without warning the occupants about the fire, not attempting to fight the fire, and not posting a night watch, allowing the blaze to spread undetected.
Boylan and four crew members managed to escape the burning boat, while the passengers were trapped below deck. Surviving crew members reported that the smoke alarms did not go off, and the preliminary NTSB report revealed that all six crew members were asleep when the fire broke out, violating Coast Guard rules. Although the cause of the fire was never determined, officials blamed the vessel’s owners, Truth Aquatics Inc., for a lack of oversight. The rescue boats took an hour to reach the burning boat, by which time all 34 victims had perished.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office focused on Boylan’s duties as captain in the case, originally charging him in 2020 with 34 counts of seaman’s manslaughter. However, the defense objected and prosecutors refiled an indictment for a single count covering all the deaths. Prosecutors criticized Boylan for never apologizing or taking responsibility for the disaster he caused. At his sentencing, Boylan was ordered to surrender in July to start his prison term. The defense argued that the flames quickly surrounded Boylan, but he stayed on board until making a distress call to the Coast Guard and only jumped ship when his survival was guaranteed.
Federal safety investigators never determined the cause of the fire, though it was initially suspected to have been sparked by overheated lithium-ion batteries. The NTSB found that proper safety measures, such as having a night watchman on duty, were not followed by the crew. While Boylan was sentenced to four years in prison, the maximum sentence he faced was 10 years. The tragedy was one of the deadliest maritime disasters in recent U.S. history, with all 34 people on board the Conception perishing in the fiery blaze.
