25 dead, 9 missing after Santa Barbara dive-boat catches fire near Channel Islands

Update, 8 a.m. Tuesday

One victim has been identified. Click here for the latest information on this story.

Update, 10:30 p.m.

The U.S. Coast Guard has found 25 bodies, and nine people remain missing after a Santa Barbara dive-boat caught fire and sank on Monday off the coast of the Channel Islands, the Associated Press reports.

Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr Matthew Kroll told the Associated Press on Monday night 25 people have been confirmed dead.

Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said the bodies of eight people had been found or recovered at a 4 p.m. news conference.

Crews first found four bodies about 90 miles off the coast of Santa Cruz Island, and 16 others were recovered later in the day, according to the Associated Press. Five other bodies were found near the sunken boat, but they could not be recovered due to dangerous conditions.

Check back for more updates on this continuing story.

Original story:

At least eight people died and 26 remain missing after a Santa Barbara dive-boat caught fire and sank early Monday morning off the coast of Santa Cruz Island.

The vessel was identified as the 75-foot Conception, and it was on a Labor Day weekend dive trip to the Channel Islands, Mike Eliason, a Santa Barbara County Fire Department spokesman, said on Monday morning.

The boat was anchored in Platts Harbor on the mainland side of the island, about 28 miles south of Santa Barbara.

Thirty-nine people were on board the vessel — six crew members and 33 passengers, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said at a Monday evening news conference.

The Conception’s crew put out a distress call about 3:30 a.m. reporting the vessel was engulfed in flames, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

The boat, which was anchored about 20 yards offshore, eventually sank in about 65 feet of water, Eliason said.

“This is probably the worst-case scenario you could possibly have,” Brown said.

By 10 a.m., the vessel had a portion of the bow sticking out of the water, the Coast Guard said. It eventually inverted and sank to the ocean floor, according to Coast Guard Capt. Monica Rochester.

The Coast Guard led search and rescue efforts all day Monday, and crews were able to recover four bodies — two men and two women, Brown said.

Searchers also spotted four additional bodies on the ocean floor that have not yet been recovered, he said.

Five crew members were able to escape the burning boat. Twenty-six people remain missing and are feared dead, Brown said.

“Our hearts go out to the families of the victims of this terrible tragedy,” he said.

Continuing search and recovery

Santa Barbara County authorities have requested assistance from the coroner’s offices in Los Angeles and Sacramento counties as they continue search and recovery efforts, Brown said.

DNA will likely be used to identify the recovered bodies, he said.

The Conception is currently unstable, and authorities will need to decide whether to undertake recovery efforts while it remains underwater or bring the boat back to the surface, Brown said.

Search and recovery efforts will continue around Santa Cruz Island and to the west, following the direction of the ocean currents, Rochester said.

She said authorities should prepare for the worst-case scenario.

“This isn’t a day we wanted to wake up to for Labor Day,” Rochester said.

What is the Conception?

The Conception is one of three vessels, along with the Truth and the Vision — operated by Truth Aquatics out of Sea Landing at the Santa Barbara Harbor.

Worldwide Diving Adventures — a company based in Twin Bridges, near Lake Tahoe — advertised the three-day trip on its website.

The Conception has a capacity of 46 passengers, and life rafts and jackets for 110 people, according to the company’s website.

The passenger bunking area is on the lower deck, according to a diagram on the website.

The cause of the fire remains unknown.

U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein on Monday called for “an immediate and robust interagency investigation” into the fire and why the crew was unable to help passengers escape.

“Once personnel from the NTSB and FBI join the effort tomorrow, we must learn as much as possible about how this happened and how future tragedies can be prevented,” she wrote in a statement.

“We need to know whether all applicable safety regulations were being followed and whether additional regulations need to be applied, particularly regulations concerning boats that accommodate overnight passengers.”

U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal released a statement sending his sympathies to those affected by the fire and thanking first responders.

“I am in close communication with our local, state and federal authorities to provide answers about this fire, and to make sure that the affected families are supported,” he wrote in a statement.

Noozhawk.com executive editor Tom Bolton contributed to this report and can be reached at tbolton@noozhawk.com. Read the Santa Barbara-based news site’s version of the story here.

This story was originally published September 2, 2019 at 10:12 AM.