LOS ANGELES _ Coast Guard officials have recovered the bodies of 33 people who died in a massive fire aboard Conception that started as the 75-foot vessel was anchored off the coast of Santa Cruz Island on Labor Day. One person is still missing, authorities said Wednesday.
Thirty-nine people were on board when the fire broke out. Five crew members, who were awake, jumped overboard and paddled to a nearby vessel. They survived. The passengers and a sixth crew member were asleep below deck and were likely trapped by the flames, officials said.
Officials had recovered the remains of 20 people _ 11 female and nine male _ as of Tuesday. Thirteen more bodies were found as of Wednesday, Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Matt Kroll said.
The names of those who perished in the fire have not been released by officials.
On Wednesday morning, divers at nearby Santa Barbara Harbor were preparing to head out in search of the remaining body.
A day earlier, roughly a dozen federal agents boarded the Conception's sister ship, the 80-foot Vision, also owned by Truth Aquatics, as officials launched an investigation into what caused the deadly blaze.
The agents, wearing khaki cargo pants and navy T-shirts that identified them as part of the FBI's Evidence Response Team, snapped photographs of Vision's interior, decks, staircases and entryways. They pinned sheets of paper with block letters beside some parts of the boat_ an "A" next to a life preserver, a "B" next to the door to the top deck _ and took pictures from several angles.
Though slightly larger than Conception, Vision is similar in layout.
National Transportation Safety Board member Jennifer Homendy said the federal agency started its investigation Tuesday morning, just after Coast Guard crews announced they would stop searching for passengers who were trapped below deck when the fire broke out. The rescuers said there are no signs of additional survivors.
"This was a terrible tragedy," she said Tuesday. "I cannot imagine what the families are going through."
The team of 16 investigators, which specialize in engineering, operations, survival factors and fire prevention, will be on site for seven to 10 days. They will work closely with the Coast Guard and first responders, Homendy said.
Tyler McCurdy, supervisor of the FBI's Ventura office, said that the FBI's Evidence Response Team will gather evidence on behalf of the NTSB and the sheriff's office. He would not specify the type of evidence they are collecting.
NTSB, the lead agency in the investigation, plans to probe the cause of the fire in hopes of determining what can be done to prevent similar incidents, Homendy said. The agency could release a preliminary report within 10 days of the accident, but a final report could take two years. The agency plans to update the public Wednesday.
During the investigation, NTSB will interview the five crew members who survived the fire, first responders and the companies involved in the diving trip. Investigators will examine crew training, safety records, survival factors and whether the boat had life jackets and other safety gear.
Homendy said she is "100% confident" that investigators will determine the cause of the fire.
If investigators uncover safety issues, the agency will issue immediate safety recommendations to protect the public from similar accidents, she said.
Marjorie Murtagh Cooke, former director of the NTSB Office of Marine Safety, said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times that investigators will try to answer several key questions, including why no one below deck was able to escape the flames.
"Vessels have to have two exits for escape by law for the sleeping quarters," Cooke said. "It appears that both exits from the sleeping quarters bring you up inside the vessel." Cooke, a marine safety expert at the consulting firm Robson Forensic, said the exits from the sleeping quarters _ a staircase and a hatch, based on images made public _ lead to the mess and galley, which appear to be one large room.
If both escape routes from the sleeping quarters lead to the same area, a fire there could potentially block the only means for passengers to get out, she said.
"With 30-plus people dying, the investigation could lead to changes in the way vessels are designed or protected depending on the findings," she said.
