Palm Beach yacht fire - La Diva is destroyed

Yacht Fire Palm Beach

By BILL DIPAOLO, Palm Beach Post

A 104-foot pleasure craft returning from the Bahamas caught fire early this morning and pulled into Rybovich Marina at 45th Street and Flagler Drive, where emergency crews responded. The fire was brought under control. Up to 35 firefighters were on the scene, according to authorities.

One West Palm Beach firefighter received slight injuries to his upper hand; he was transported to St. Mary's Medical Center. Another firefighter was also transported for observation. The craft's seven crew members were uninjured.

The boat, measuring 104 feet long and named "La Diva" according to ***************.com, was heading toward the Palm Beach Inlet when there was an exhaust leak onboard. The captain pulled into the nearest dock that he could find, which was Rybovich, and the crew evacuated the ship. The boat contained 3,000 gallons of fuel.

Sean O’Brian said he was laying tile at a house just north of the marina at about 5:30 a.m. when he smelled smoke. He looked outside, saw the fire, and drove over to the marina.

“We got there and there were huge flames, at least 30 feet high,” said O’Brien. “They were blazing, it was like an inferno. There was thick, black smoke.”

The fiberglass boat was still burning and black smoke was billowing at 9:45 a.m. Firefighters were still on the scene.

"The craft is destroyed," said West Palm Beach Commissioner Molly Douglas. "It's burned right down to the waterline."

According to Assistant West Palm Beach Fire Chief Carlos Cabrera, the owner of the boat is a customer of Rybovich. The boat now is listing to one side.

"When we got here, we cut a hole in the side of the hull and pumped in foam to smother the fire," Cabrera said.

Once the fire is extinguished, the gasoline in the boat will be removed by a salvage ship. No gas has leaked from the ship. An absorbent material has been placed around the ship in case there is a gas leak, said Cabrera.

Marina workers moved nearby yachts away from the burning boat. There were no explosions.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/104-foot-craft-destroyed-by-fire-in-west-771938.html

Very sad

^ Impressive how those materials burn all down very fast.

Wow, she really burned all the way down!

I am sure he meant "fuel", ie - diesel

Apparently the fire started around 06:00, and was still burning at 16:00. There were over 30 fire trucks in the car park at one point. This morning (24hrs after) it was still smoldering. Very sad.

a good reason the c.g. does not issue a c.o.i. to vessels built out of certain composites




well at least they didn't just do the teak...

"Once the fire dies out, the value of the craft will depend not only on the condition of the ship but its amenities, such as granite tabletops, his-and-her bathrooms and entertainment equipment, said Jim Barboni, a salesman for HMY Yacht Sales in Palm Beach Gardens.

“The entire structure of the craft was engulfed in flames. It sounds like it’s a goner,” said Barboni. "

Jeeze. Could they have picked a worse person for a quote?!

Sadly, we see the history repeat itself. Another million dollar baby up in smoke.
The heads obviously do best down in the sand, just like in the commercial passenger ship industry 20 years ago!

La Diva is only the latest but certainly not the last of several incidents and severe accidents onboard large yachts recent years, again fortunately without fatalities.

People in the industry openly admit only sheer luck and coincidents are the only reason for this, yet refusing to bring up the sensitive matter on the agenda for an open debate.

The history, “repeating itself” and the scenario from the cruise and ferry sector, where a number of major disasters with hundreds and hundreds of casualties must occur before the industry awakened and realized something must be done!
The result is today’s situation with seaborne transports as the without comparison safest means of transportation.
But at a price of about 3.000 lives…

I have no doubts that most professionals in the industry are aware and concerned of the situation and that the only probable reason for change is that fatal accident!
But how can we convey the message to concerned people without intimidating and hamper business? That’s the million dollar question, I would say…

Concluding; I feel kind of discouraged, but also sad, asking why the industry can’t realize the perhaps uncomfortable but serious situation?
Even though not surprised over the reluctance to realize the inevitable facts, I dread the result of such accident will be actually worse that the ones we experienced in the commercial industry.
On a passenger ship, people are merely cargo, as in the yachting world we most often speaking friends and family.

Victims on a ferry tends to disperse as foggy statistics after a while, lost family members are remembered forever, the guilt unpronounced…
The latter must be hard to live with, especially if one knew it could have been avoided…

What is the situation that you are so concerned about? And how does this incident highlight or represent those concerns?

Perhaps it is a natural concern for a Marketing Director at a Marine Safety company...

Perhaps everyone with a stake in the yachting industry is concerned with fire safety but the post seemed to allude to some underlying issue or "situation" that the author went to great lengths to avoid addressing directly.

Is Diva supposed to represent some "situation' whose name we dare not speak or what?

While very eloquent I fail to see the point of this post... Sven, what are you trying to say exactly???

Afaik out of all fire on board yachts in the past few years there has been no casualties of at least a lot fewer than other type of accidents especially those involving tenders

I kind of curious about the captain bringing her to dock while on fire. Everything seems to have worked out, but that seems like a recipe for disaster. Rybovich could easily have lost their dock and several other boats.

As opposed to what? Letting a flaming hulk drift down on moored boats and a couple of marinas? Forcing the crew over the side in lifejackets next to a burning boat?

The dock was repaired by insurance. No other boats were close enough to be at risk. The crew safely evacuated the vessel, and shoreside firefighters were able to access the hulk with the least risk possible.

I was there that day and the next and the only thing I saw that was dodgy is shown in one of the pictures ... a couple of rubberneckers who would become casualties if the wind took a sudden shift. The firefighters should have chased them off the dock.

No, my inclination would be to drop the hook a safe distance off; close enough to swim if necessary, but far enough that I don't share my fate. Guess you have a different philosophy.

Not a lot of room in WPB to drop the hook and abandon ship between the icw and the boats on the hook. Yhe captain probably decided that there was an empty face dock with limit risking the fire speeding and being docked would let the firefighters get to the fire. And we don't know how much the fire ahe spread, probably not since the engines were still running and ghe controls working

Avid lurker here, so please forgive what may be a stupid question, but don't these boats have a Halon Fire Suppression system?? I'm assuming this would help in a marine environment

yes it does, however unless the system is triggered early and you have dampers on the ER intakes to seal the ER the chances of a flare up can be high depending on the cause of the fire...

each case is different and while an automatic system is a critical piece of equipment, it doens't always work.

many fires are electrical., although in this case reports suggested an exhaust issue. Many/most boats don't have halon system behind electrical panels for instance so if a fire starts there your ER halon is useless.

(yeah, I know.... Halon is no longer sold and has been replaced by FE 241 and other agents)

As I said, it all worked out. So, the captain's actions were fine. The proof is in the pudding. I wouldn't have taken that course though and wondered how others would handle it. Getting the boat to the dock facilitates the fire Dept. and maybe saves the boat, but it puts other's property at risk.