Fire and Water: Fatal Mixture
Fires at sea are not so rare, just rarely so fatal. In his Admiralty Law column, James E. Mercante discusses some of the noteworthy fire cases litigated in admiralty.
October 18, 2019 at 12:50 PM
10 minute read
A mariner will say that "a fire at sea will ruin your whole day!" But, it's never thought to be your last day.
The last day for 33 passengers and one crew member aboard the 75-foot wooden and fiberglass dive boat CONCEPTION was Sept. 2, 2019. The vessel became engulfed in flames at 3 a.m. off the coast of Santa Barbara, Calif. with the full complement of passengers asleep and trapped below deck. The only survivors were four crewmembers. The tragedy ranks as one of the worst maritime disasters in U.S. history. It has been labeled a "major marine casualty" by the U.S. Coast Guard, and the National Transportation Safety Board is currently investigating to determine the probable cause of the fire.
As it involves a "vessel" upon "navigable waters" with the loss of a "seaman" and "passengers," maritime law is naturally implicated. Indeed, the italicized words are all terms of art in the world of admiralty.
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