Battery dangers got little attention from Coast Guard despite red flags before Conception fire
, a second vessel owned by the same charter company began a three-day voyage around the Channel Islands.
“In hindsight, it would have been nice to know about it,” Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Matthew Kroll told The Times.recommended that owners of passenger vessels immediately urge crews “to reduce potential fire hazards and consider limiting the unsupervised charging of lithium-ion batteries and extensive use of power strips and extension cords.”Glen Fritzler, whose Truth Aquatics firm owns both the Conception and the Vision, believes the batteries were the cause of the Conception disaster.
Passengers often angled for limited charging outlets nestled behind foam-filled, L-shaped benches in the salon areas to power strobe lights, cameras, flashlights and video power packs.Alarm in aviation Lithium-ion batteries create heat when they charge. If not properly vented, the heat from one cell or battery can set off a chain reaction with other batteries, said Thomas Barrera, a scientist and consultant who advised NASA on the topic.
After advising global airlines in 2017 to keep the batteries out of cargo holds, the FAA and the U.S. Department of Transportation this year adopted rules allowing passengers to take them only in carry-on luggage. In cargo holds, passengers and airline employees cannot see if a battery fire starts and spreads to other baggage. In the cabin, crew members and passengers can at least see and smell smoke.
In June, a fully loaded Southwest Airlines plane was evacuated and taken out of service after a passenger’s carry-on bag, with an e-cigarette battery charger and two batteries inside, started to smoke under a seat. A flight attendant used a fire extinguisher to douse the device, according to FAA records.
Two trade groups representing battery makers, developers and suppliers urge caution when transporting the batteries on airplanes, according to their websites. “The industry obviously has an outstanding record for safety. There are millions of electronic devices that people use every day and the record reflects that,” the Rechargeable Battery Assn. said in 2017.
Albert Vogel, a 73-year-old from Durham, Calif., was on an overnight trip on the Conception the week before the deadly Labor Day fire. He said the electrical outlets were “dangerously close to the seat cushions.” The burned hull of the Conception is brought to the ocean surface by a salvage team for investigation in September.
When he first started, few divers carted loads of electronic equipment. But that changed in recent years as manufacturers flooded the market with cheaper, mass-produced equipment, he said.
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