A judge will determine the amount on Thursday during a hearing in federal court in Los Angeles. The proceeding comes nearly five years after the Sept. 2, 2019, tragedy off the central California coast, which prompted changes to maritime regulations, congressional reform and several ongoing civil lawsuits.
The captain of the Conception, Jerry Boylan, was convicted last year of one count of misconduct or neglect of ship officer following a 10-day trial in federal court in downtown Los Angeles. The charge is a pre-Civil War statute colloquially known as seaman’s manslaughter that was designed to hold steamboat captains and crew responsible for maritime disasters.
FILE – Defendant Jerry Boylan, captain of the dive boat, Conception, leaves federal court in Los Angeles, May 2, 2024. Prosecutors are seeking restitution for the families of 34 people killed in the boat fire in 2019 off the California coast. A judge will determine the amount on Thursday, July 11, during a hearing in federal court in Los Angeles. Boylan’s criminal negligence as the captain of the boat led to the deadliest maritime disaster in recent U.S. history. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File)
FILE – In this photo provided by the Ventura County Fire Department, VCFD firefighters respond to a fire aboard the Conception dive boat fire in the Santa Barbara Channel off the coast of Southern California on Sept. 2, 2019. A scuba dive boat captain is scheduled to be sentenced by a federal judge Thursday, May 2, 2024, on a conviction of criminal negligence after 34 people died in the fire aboard the vessel nearly five years ago. (Ventura County Fire Department via AP, File)
FILE – Barbara Chan, whose brother Raymond “Scott” Chan was among the 34 victims of a fire on the scuba dive boat Conception, holds up a photo of the victims, Oct. 24, 2023, in Los Angeles. The captain of the boat is scheduled to be sentenced by a federal judge Thursday, May 2, 2024, on a conviction of criminal negligence. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun, File)
FILE – A standing memorial to the people who died aboard the Conception dive boat is seen along the coast near the Santa Barbara, Calif., harbor on July 12, 2020. Federal prosecutors are seeking justice for 34 people killed in a fire aboard the Conception in 2019. The trial against Captain Jerry Boylan begins Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023, in Los Angeles with jury selection. (AP Photo/John Antczak, File)
FILE – Photographs of loved ones lost in the fire on the scuba dive boat Conception are placed at a memorial on the Santa Barbara Harbor on Sept. 4, 2019, in Santa Barbara, Calif. Federal prosecutors are seeking justice for 34 people killed in a fire aboard the Conception in 2019. The trial against Captain Jerry Boylan begins Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023, in Los Angeles with jury selection. (AP Photo/Christian Monterrosa, File)
FILE – A woman gets emotional after placing flowers at a memorial for the victims of the Conception in the Santa Barbara Harbor on Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2019, in Santa Barbara, Calif. Federal prosecutors are seeking justice for 34 people killed in a fire aboard the scuba dive boat Conception in 2019. The trial against Captain Jerry Boylan begins Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023, in Los Angeles with jury selection. (AP Photo/Christian Monterrosa, File)
FILE – National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) shows the wreckage of the dive boat Conception on a dock in Southern California. Federal prosecutors are seeking justice for 34 people killed in a fire aboard the Conception in 2019. The trial against Captain Jerry Boylan begins Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023, in Los Angeles with jury selection. (NTSB via AP, File)
In this Sept. 2, 2019, file photo provided by the Santa Barbara County Fire Department, the dive boat Conception is engulfed in flames after a deadly fire broke out aboard the commercial scuba diving vessel off the Southern California Coast. Federal authorities are expected to vote Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2020 on what likely sparked a fire aboard a scuba dive boat last year that killed 34 people off the coast of Southern California. The pre-dawn blaze aboard the Conception is one of California’s deadliest maritime disasters, prompting both criminal and safety investigations into the Sept. 2, 2019 tragedy that claimed the lives of 33 passengers and one crew member on a Labor Day weekend expedition near an island off Santa Barbara. (Santa Barbara County Fire Department via AP, File)
Conception commercial dive boat victims Kaustbh Nirmal and Dr. Sanjeeri Deopujari of Norwalk, Connecticut. Attorneys held a press conference announcing the filing of a wrongful death and survival action claim on behalf of three passengers and one crew member, including Normal and Deopujari, killed in the Conception commercial dive boat fire off the coast of Santa Barbara, CA Monday, January 13, 2020. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Conception commercial dive boat victim Yulia Krashennaya of Berkeley, CA. Attorneys held a press conference announcing the filing of a wrongful death and survival action claim on behalf of three passengers and one crew member, including Krashennaya, killed in the Conception commercial dive boat fire off the coast of Santa Barbara, CA Monday, January 13, 2020. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Lisa Fiedler of Mill Valley was on the dive boat Conception at the Channel Islands when it caught fire early Monday. (Photo from Facebook)
Conception commercial dive boat victim Alexandra Kurtz. Attorneys held a press conference announcing the filing of a wrongful death and survival action claim on behalf of three passengers and one crew member, including Kurtz, killed in the Conception commercial dive boat fire off the coast of Santa Barbara, CA Monday, January 13, 2020. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Jeffery Goodman, left, attorney, Robert Mongeluzzi, Attorney and Robert Glassman, attorney, at a press conference announcing the filing of a wrongful death and survival action claim on behalf of three passengers and one crew member killed in the Conception commercial dive boat fire off the coast of Santa Barbara, CA Monday, January 13, 2020. Pictured at right are victims Yulia Krashennaya, of Berkeley, CA and Kaustbh Nirmal and Dr. Sanjeeri Deopujari of Norwalk, Connecticut. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
FILE – This Monday, Sept. 2, 2019, file image taken from video released by the U.S. Coast Guard shows a Coast Guard Sector San Diego MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter video screen, as crew responds to the vessel “Conception” boat fire off Santa Cruz Island near Santa Barbara, Calif. Federal investigators say all six crew members were asleep when a fire broke out in the scuba diving boat off the coast of California, killing 34 people. (U.S. Coast Guard via AP, File)
FILE – This Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2019, file photo provided by Santa Barbara County shows divers and support crews from many agencies working the scene of the Conception dive boat fire off Santa Cruz Island, Calif. Federal investigators say all six crew members were asleep when a fire broke out in the scuba diving boat off the coast of California, killing 34 people. (Santa Barbara County via AP, File)
Nearly 1,000 people gather at the Santa Monica Pier for a vigil to remember the dive boat fire victims on Thursday, Sep. 5, 2019. 34 divers died below deck when the dive boat Conception caught fire off the coast of Santa Cruz Island on Monday. (Photo by Scott Varley, Daily Breeze/SCNG)
A group hugs each other as nearly 1,000 people gather at the Santa Monica Pier for a vigil to remember the dive boat fire victims on Thursday, Sep. 5, 2019. 34 divers died below deck when the dive boat Conception caught fire off the coast of Santa Cruz Island on Monday. (Photo by Scott Varley, Daily Breeze/SCNG)
California Assembly member Richard Bloom speaks to the large group gathered at the Santa Monica Pier for a vigil to remember the dive boat fire victims on Thursday, Sep. 5, 2019. 34 divers died below deck when the dive boat Conception caught fire off the coast of Santa Cruz Island on Monday. (Photo by Scott Varley, Daily Breeze/SCNG)
Nearly 1,000 people gather at the Santa Monica Pier for a vigil to remember the dive boat fire victims on Thursday, Sep. 5, 2019. 34 divers died below deck when the dive boat Conception caught fire off the coast of Santa Cruz Island on Monday. (Photo by Scott Varley, Daily Breeze/SCNG)
Nearly 1,000 people gather at the Santa Monica Pier for a vigil to remember the dive boat fire victims on Thursday, Sep. 5, 2019. 34 divers died below deck when the dive boat Conception caught fire off the coast of Santa Cruz Island on Monday. (Photo by Scott Varley, Daily Breeze/SCNG)
Nearly 1,000 people gather at the Santa Monica Pier for a vigil to remember the dive boat fire victims on Thursday, Sep. 5, 2019. 34 divers died below deck when the dive boat Conception caught fire off the coast of Santa Cruz Island on Monday. (Photo by Scott Varley, Daily Breeze/SCNG)
A photo of the boat Conception, taken by the Ventura County Fire Department, before it submerged after catching fire while anchored off Santa Cruz Island, Calif., on Monday, Sept. 2, 2019. Multiple people are feared dead after the dive boat caught fire before dawn Monday, according to the Coast Guard. (Ventura County Fire Department)
Lisa Fiedler of Mill Valley was on the dive boat Conception at the Channel Islands when it caught fire early Sept. 2, 2019. (Photo provided by Alicia Love)
SANTA BARBARA, CA – Sept. 4: A photo of Allie Kurtz is among the memorial growing, Wednesday morning, Sept. 4, 2019, at the harbor in Santa Barbara, Calif., for the victims of the Conception dive boat fire. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA – SEPTEMBER 03: Candles are lit in Santa Barbara Harbor at a makeshift memorial for victims of the Conception boat fire on September 3, 2019 in Santa Barbara, California. Authorities believe none of the 34 people below deck survived after the commercial scuba diving ship caught fire and sank, while anchored near Santa Cruz Island, in the early morning hours of September 2. Five crew members survived. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
SANTA BARBARA, CA – Sept. 4: Candles continue to burn before dawn, Wednesday morning, Sept. 4, 2019, at the harbor in Santa Barbara, Calif., where a memorial grows for the victims of the Conception dive boat fire. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
Jennifer Stafford adds water to flowers placed with candles at makeshift memorial for the victims of a scuba diving boat fire, on September 3, 2019, in Santa Barbara, California. (Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images)
This image made from video released by TowBoatUS Ventura shows a burning out charter dive boat “Conception,” before it sank off Santa Cruz Island, near the coast of Ventura County, Calif., early Monday, Sept. 2, 2019. (Capt. Paul Amaral/TowBoatUS Ventura via AP)
A commercial scuba-dive boat sank amid intense flames early off the coast of Southern California and 34 passengers were unaccounted for, the US Coast Guard said. Five Conception crew members were awake and jumped into the water when flames burst out around 3:15 am. (Courtesy of Ventura County Fire Department)
The Conception was anchored off Santa Cruz Island, 25 miles south of Santa Barbara, when it caught fire before dawn on the final day of a three-day excursion, sinking less than 100 feet from shore.
Thirty-three passengers and a crew member perished, trapped in a bunkroom below deck. Among the dead were the deckhand, who had landed her dream job; an environmental scientist who did research in Antarctica; a globe-trotting couple; a Singaporean data scientist; and a family of three sisters, their father and his wife.
Boylan was the first to abandon ship and jump overboard. Four crew members who joined him also survived.
Although the exact cause of the blaze remains undetermined, prosecutors blamed Boylan for failing to post the required roving night watch and never properly trained his crew in firefighting. The lack of the roving watch meant the fire was able to spread undetected across the 75-foot boat.
But Boylan’s federal public defenders sought to pin blame on boat owner Glen Fritzler, who with his wife owns Truth Aquatics Inc., which operated the Conception and two other scuba dive boats, often around the Channel Islands.
They argued that Fritzler was responsible for failing to train the crew in firefighting and other safety measures, as well as creating a lax seafaring culture they called “the Fritzler way,” in which no captain who worked for him posted a roving watch.
The Fritzlers have not spoken publicly about the tragedy since an interview with a local TV station a few days after the fire. Their attorneys have never responded to requests for comment from The Associated Press.
Three days after the fire, Truth Aquatics filed suit under a pre-Civil War provision of maritime law that allows it to limit its liability to the value of the remains of the boat, which was a total loss. The time-tested legal maneuver has been successfully employed by the owners of the Titanic and other vessels and requires the Fritzlers to show they were not at fault.
That case is pending, as well as others filed by victims’ families against the Coast Guard for what they allege was lax enforcement of the roving watch requirement.
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