The US National Transportation Safety Board has called for major safety improvements to small passenger vessels after the investigation of a 2019 California dive boat fire that killed 34.

The 75-foot recreational diving vessel, Conception, with 33 passengers and six crew aboard, was anchored in Platts Harbor, off Santa Cruz Island, when it caught fire in the early morning of Sept. 2, 2019. All 33 passengers and one crewmember died of smoke inhalation after they were trapped in the berthing area while a fire raged on the deck above. Both exits from the berthing area led to the fire- and smoke-filled enclosed area above.

The NTSB called for all vessels similar to the Conception with overnight accommodations to be required to have interconnected smoke detectors in all passenger areas. It also recommended that a secondary means of escape lead into a different space than the primary exit, in case a single fire blocks both escape paths. The NTSB also called on the U.S. Coast Guard to develop and implement an inspection program to verify that roving patrols are conducted – as required – for the safety of sleeping passengers and crew. NTSB investigators found the absence of a required roving patrol on the Conception likely delayed the initial detection of the fire, allowed for its growth, precluded firefighting and evacuation efforts and directly led to the high number of fatalities in the accident.

“The Conception may have passed all Coast Guard inspections, but that did not make it safe,” said NTSB Chairman Robert L. Sumwalt. “Our new recommendations will make these vessels safer, but there is no rule change that can replace human vigilance.”

The recommendations to the Coast Guard would apply to vessels, like the Conception, that are under 100 gross tons and have overnight accommodations for 49 or fewer passengers that fall under Subchapter T of federal marine regulations. The NTSB’s recommendation on interconnected smoke detectors, meaning when one smoke detector alarms the remaining detectors also alarm, also would apply to larger Subchapter K vessels.

The NTSB also reiterated its call for small passenger vessels to be required to implement a safety management system to improve the safety culture of vessel owners and operators.

While the Conception had smoke detectors in the below-deck berthing area, they were not connected to each other or the wheelhouse, and there were no smoke detectors in the salon, the common area above the sleeping quarters where investigators believe the fire started. Because of the fire damage to Conception, which burned to the water line and then sank, there was little physical evidence for investigators to establish exactly how, when and where the fire started.

During  a virtual board meeting, the NTSB determined the probable cause of the fire and subsequent sinking was the failure of Truth Aquatics, Inc., the owner and operator of Conception, to provide effective oversight of its vessel and crewmember operations, including requirements to ensure that a roving patrol was maintained, which allowed a fire of unknown cause to grow, undetected, in the vicinity of the aft salon on the main deck.

Contributing to the undetected growth of the fire was the lack of a Coast Guard regulatory requirement for smoke detection in all accommodation spaces. Contributing to the high loss of life were the inadequate emergency escape arrangements from the vessel’s bunkroom, as both exited into a compartment that was engulfed in fire, thereby preventing escape.

A synopsis of the investigation’s findings and recommendations is available online at https://go.usa.gov/x7a7G

The full, revised investigative report will be issued in the next few weeks on ntsb.gov and on Twitter @NTSB_newsroom

By Jake Frith

Source:Maritime Journal, Oct 21, 2020

In her first State of the Union address to the European Parliament, EU Commission President Ursula van der Leyen called for accelerating the union’s target for emissions reductions.

The European Union’s top official proposed a more ambitious target for cutting greenhouse gas emissions in Europe, setting a reduction goal of at least 55% by 2030 compared to the current target of 40%. Members of the European Parliament, which represent 27 member countries, would have to adopt the proposal.

“There is no more urgent need for acceleration than when it comes to the future of our fragile planet,” von der Leyen said in her address. “While much of the world’s activity froze during lockdowns and shutdowns, the planet continued to get dangerously hotter.

We see it all around us: from homes evacuated due to glacier collapse on the Mont Blanc, to fires burning through Oregon, to crops destroyed in Romania by the most severe drought in decades.”

von der Leyen said she wants 37% of the €750 billion coronavirus recovery fund approved by EU countries to be spent on environmental objectives, adding that 30% of the fund should be raised through “green” bonds whose proceeds are meant to have a positive impact on the environment.

The EU also plans to dedicate a quarter of its budget to tackling climate change and to work to shift €1 trillion euros in investment toward making the EU’s economy more environmentally friendly over the next 10 years.

The European Green Deal is the blueprint to make that transformation, she said

“At the heart of it is our mission to become the first climate-neutral continent by 2050,” she said. “But we will not get there with the status quo – we need to go faster and do things better. We looked in-depth at every sector to see how fast we could go and how to do it in a responsible, evidence-based way.

“We held a wide public consultation and conducted an extensive impact assessment.

On this basis, the European Commission is proposing to increase the 2030 target for emission reduction to at least 55%. I recognize that this increase from 40 to 55 is too much for some, and not enough for others. But our impact assessment clearly shows that our economy and industry can manage this And they want it too.”

She said that she had received a letter from 170 business leaders and investors calling on Europe to set a target of at least 55%.

To help meet the goal, the EU should invest in lighthouse European projects with the biggest impact: hydrogen, renovation and 1 million electric charging points, von der Leyen said. She wants the EU to create new European Hydrogen Valleys to modernize industries, power vehicles and bring new life to rural areas.

Source:Diesel and Gas Turbine Worldwide , Sep 16 2020

Recently the NOAA Fisheries announced the selection of federal waters off southern California and in the Gulf of Mexico as the areas of focused evaluation for the first two of ten Aquaculture Opportunity Areas in the United States. Establishing these Aquaculture Opportunity Areas are part of NOAA’s responsibility under the May 2020 Executive Order on Promoting American Seafood Competitiveness and Economic Growth.

Information source: National Aquaculture Association/media release

These two regions were selected based on the already available spatial analysis data and current industry interest in developing sustainable aquaculture operations in the region. NOAA envisions each AOA as a small defined geographic area that has been evaluated to determine its potential suitability for commercial aquaculture. While the regions for the first two AOAs have been selected, the exact locations and configuration will be shaped by a combination of spatial analysis and public input.

These AOAs are expected to support three to five aquaculture farm sites of varying types including finfish, shellfish, macroalgae, or some combination of these. To identify each AOA, NOAA will use a combination of powerful data-driven siting analysis using hundreds of types of data on ocean uses and public input. The synthesis of these two essential elements will highlight space that is environmentally, socially, and economically appropriate for commercial aquaculture.

Learn more about the AOA announcement and view additional material on the NOAA Fisheries website.

Source:https://aquaculturemag.com/2020/08/21/noaa-fisheries-announces-marine-aquaculture-opportunity-areas/