LOS ANGELES (AP) — Federal safety officials on Tuesday blamed the deaths of 34 people in a fire aboard a Southern California scuba dive boat directly on the vessel owner’s failures to oversee its vessel and crew properly.

The National Transportation Safety Board unanimously ruled that the predawn fire aboard the Conception — the deadliest maritime disaster in the United States in decades — was the result of the ineffective oversight of the owner Truth Aquatics Inc., including a federal requirement for a roving night patrol.

The Sept. 2, 2019, tragedy killed 33 passengers and one crew member on a Labor Day weekend expedition near an island off Santa Barbara and prompted criminal and safety investigations. Court documents say charges against the Conception’s captain, Jerry Boylan, are imminent.

While investigators were unable to determine what exactly sparked the fire, the five-member NTSB voted to label the inaction by Truth Aquatics as the deadly blaze’s probable cause.

Board member Jennifer Homendy, who traveled to Santa Barbara in 2019 and toured a sister ship of the Conception, blasted Boylan and Truth Aquatics during the nearly four-hour hearing. She said the tragedy shouldn’t be called an accident.

“I hate the term accident in this case because, in my opinion, it is not an accident if you fail to operate your company safely,” Homendy said.

John Hillsman, an attorney for relatives of five victims, said his clients are anxious to see that changes are made as a result of the tragedy.

He called some of Truth Aquatics’ operations, including the roving watch violation, “just jaw-dropping.”

Attorneys for Boylan and Truth Aquatics did not immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday.

Homendy and the other board members also sharply criticized the Coast Guard on Tuesday, saying inadequate Coast Guard regulations contributed to the high death toll, such as a lack of a requirement for smoke detectors in all accommodation spaces and poor emergency escape arrangements. The board passed several recommendations to suggest to the Coast Guard.