
The dive boat Conception smolders at sunrise on Sept. 2, 2019, before sinking. (National Transportation Safety Board)
Over Labor Day weekend in 2019, a fire broke out in the early morning hours on the Conception, a 75-foot wood and fiberglass dive vessel in Santa Barbara Harbor, CA. All 33 passengers sleeping below decks and one of the boat’s crew of six died in the blaze.
The Conception‘s captain, Jerry Boyle, 70, was sentenced to four years in prison on Thursday, according to a statement from the Justice Department. After a 10-day trial, a jury found Boylan guilty in November 2023 of one count of misconduct or neglect of ship officer – an offense commonly called “seaman’s manslaughter.”