Jury selection continued Wednesday in the federal trial of the captain of a scuba dive boat that caught fire in 2019, killing 34 people on board and becoming the deadliest maritime disaster in recent U.S. history. Captain Jerry Boylan is charged with one count of misconduct or neglect of ship officer, a pre-Civil War statute colloquially known as “seaman’s manslaughter” that was designed to hold steamboat captains and crew responsible for maritime disasters.
2, 2019, when it caught fire before dawn on the final day of a three-day excursion, sinking less than 100 feet from shore. Boylan and four crew members sleeping in the upper deck told investigators they tried to save the others but ultimately had to jump overboard to survive. Boylan made a mayday call before abandoning ship.