More than four years after the deaths of 34 people on a burning excursion boat, the Los Angeles boat captain has been sentenced to four years in prison. The responsible federal court announced the verdict against Jerry Nehl Boylan on Thursday (local time). A jury found the 70-year-old guilty of gross negligence in November. Up to ten years in prison would have been possible; the defense had hoped for a suspended sentence.
Through his misconduct and cowardice, Boylan caused the “terrible deaths” of 34 people, federal prosecutor Martin Estrada said. Before the verdict was handed down, relatives of the victims spoke of the serious damage and called for the maximum sentence for the captain.
Fire has closed the path to the exit
In September 2019, a fire broke out on the submarine “Conception” at the end of a three-day diving excursion. The passengers and a crew member were sleeping overnight in a cabin below deck when the boat went up in flames off the Californian island of Santa Cruz. The rapidly spreading fire cut off their path to the exits.
The captain and four of his crew members who were on deck jumped overboard and survived. When rescuers arrived, the approximately 30-meter-long boat was already completely on fire. Finally it sank. The tragedy is one of the worst maritime accidents in recent American history.
The captain was the first to escape from the ship
The prosecutor accused the captain of not properly training his crew for emergency situations. Moreover, he had not established a night watch. This allowed the fire to spread unnoticed. He was also the first crew member to leave the boat when the other people were still trapped in the boat and needed help.
At that time, it was common practice in the region to dispense with night watch on boats. After the accident, the coast guard tightened regulations. Investigators have never publicly identified a clear cause of the fire aboard the Conception.
Source: Krone
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