Truly a shocking tragedy. I dived on the boats from Truth Aquatics, but it was 25 years ago. Yes, this was an excellent company ... first-class.

I never remember getting a safety briefing about boat operations. We were always very focused on safety during the diving. Maybe things changed.

I would guess the most probable cause was a fire from batteries being re-charged at night. Many divers have elaborate camera gear. They must re-charge the batteries. This is done in the Galley, the probable source of the fire. Its been going on for years. What went wrong this time? I can only speculate that someone (a diver) sat down some type of flammable liquid beside a battey charger, and the worst of all outcomes happened at 3am.

I cant begin to imagine the terror of the divers awakening to heavy smoke and all exits blocked by the fire.

I am still stunned that these boats (and the crew) did not have better equipment and training for fire fighting. There is no mention of any crew member trying to fight the fire with an extinguisher. The investigators will have to look at this. Once the Galley was ablaze, the divers had no hope.

If any good comes from this, it will be that safety on these dive boats must be dramatically increased ... including a 24-hour deck watch, serious fire training for the crew, and the re-positioning of escape hatches so they open onto the deck at the bow. This should be done for all dive boats in the USA. The deficiencies are widespread.

A real tragedy.