The first compensation payments for expenses incurred in the deaths of 34 people who died when the Californian dive liveaboard Conception caught fire in 2019 have been ordered by a US federal judge – though whether its captain Jerry Boylan is in a position to foot the bill remains unclear.
The fatal blaze, regarded as the worst maritime disaster in recent US history, is now thought to have started in a rubbish-bin outside the below-decks bunk-room where all the guests and a crew-member had been sleeping.
The incident has led to some changes in US maritime regulations as well as to civil lawsuits that have yet to be heard, but this is the first time even a small amount of compensation has been ordered, almost five years later.
The order to pay $32,179 (about £25,000), made on 31 July, covers only funeral expenses for which relatives of three of the deceased had submitted claims. Other claims to cover costs of counselling, lost income, travel expenses and legal fees were not granted, however, while further claims for property lost in the fire remain under consideration.
Some divers’ families have stated that they they had not realised that they would be required to retain invoices for funeral expenses, or had found it too distressing to have to evaluate their relatives’ lost personal possessions.
Free pending appeal
Last year Boylan, 70, was convicted of “seaman’s manslaughter”, having been found criminally negligent in failing to mount a roving night-watch on Conception.
The first person to abandon the vessel, Boylan was sentenced to four years in prison followed by three years of supervised release but has yet to start his jail-term pending appeal. He was told recently that bail was unnecessary because he was considered a low flight risk.
His legal team has claimed that he lives off social security and has no significant assets available to cover the compensation payments, though prosecutors claim that he is in possession of six-figure assets.
Boylan’s appeal against his sentence hinges on a claim that the jury that convicted him had not been made aware of the theory that the rapidly spreading fire could have killed the guests even if he had mounted the mandatory night-watch.
The restitution judgment against Boylan is independent of civil lawsuits launched by the families against Glenn & Dana Fritzler, owners Conception operator Truth Aquatics, and against the US Coast Guard for claimed lax enforcement of maritime regulations.
Also read: Conception captain guilty of negligence, Captain charged over California boat fire deaths, Report finds all crew on California dive boat were asleep when fire broke out
