NTSB Chair: Action Needed on Safety Management Systems for Small Passenger Vessels

​​Call comes on 5th anniversary of Conception tragedy

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (Sept. 2, 2024) — On the fifth anniversary of the 2019 Conception dive boat fire that killed 34 people, National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy held a media availability with the families of the victims and again called on the U.S. Coast Guard to require safety management systems for all U.S.-flagged passenger vessels. 

“For five years, I’ve worked with the families of the victims of this terrible tragedy to spur federal action on our recommendations,” Homendy said. “The NTSB first recommended SMS in the marine mode 20 years ago, and specifically called for it on small passenger vessels since 2012. Additionally, Congress authorized the Coast Guard to mandate SMS in 2010. It’s 2024, and here we are, with no action. We know our recommendations save lives. I call on the Coast Guard to finish its work implementing solutions to prevent such a tragedy from occurring again.”

Chair Homendy made her remarks after a gathering of family members and first responders at the Conception Memorial in Santa Barbara on the five-year anniversary of the fire. On Sept. 2, 2019, the Conception dive boat, a small passenger vessel with 33 passengers and a crew of six was anchored for the night about 24 miles south-southwest of Santa Barbara, California. In the early morning hours, it caught fire, burned to the waterline and sank. All 33 passengers and one crewmember died in the fire.

The NTSB has long advocated for the implementation of SMS. In 2005, the NTSB issued a safety recommendation to the Coast Guard to seek legislative authority to require all US-flag ferry operators to implement safety management systems, and once obtained, require all U.S.-flag ferry operators to do so. Congress granted that authority in 2010. 

The SMS recommendation for all passenger vessels was first issued after the NTSB investigation of a 2010 Staten Island Ferry accident in New York City that injured dozens. That same safety recommendation was reiterated following the NTSB’s investigation of the Island Lady in 2018 and at the conclusion of the Conception investigation in 2020. 

In addition to her comments, Homendy sent a letter to the Coast Guard commandant and the Secretary of Homeland Security urging them to implement the SMS requirements without further delay.

Resources

Let​ter to the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security and the Coast Guard Commandant

Safety recommendation M-12-003

Chair Homendy’s remarks​​