This is a sad loss and I do sympathize the situation. But come on, you take your chances when you ignore warnings and rules. The one at fault is the victim & possibly the guardian or parent for not enforcing the rules.

I also suspect that 1 potential culprit is regrounding of the neutral. Since a boat that has a shore power cord would also have a generator, a neutral switching transfer switch from generator to shore power would be needed to prevent this.

If lets say that the neutral is regrounded and then both the equipment ground and neutral in the shore power cord fail, than the only return path is through the water.

A good idea is to have a box in the shore power that test for regrounding of the neutral before turning on the power and then use a plug-in tester to check a random sample of outlets on board the boat for hot and neutral switched, ground functioning, and so forth.

At any rate, a boat is a hole in the water into which you pour money.

what a sad sad story, i am so sorry for the lost of anyone from something so preventable. the boat owner and the owners of the slip are at fault. please let this be a sad and god fearing lesson.

By way of the settlement, the case was settled monetarily. However, was there any resolution for who was responsible? I ask this question realizing that most settlement agreements also include a denial of culpability. This tragedy is made exponentially more tragic when no one is assigned responsibility to ensure that the risk is abated.

I'm sure there are those who would say that Samantha and her friends are at least partially to blame for ignoring the warning signs. But what of someone who simply looses footing and slips into the water? Personal flotation vests are a testimony to the fact that inadvertent entry to the water is a real possibility.

The sad fact is that the NEC has no requirement for GFCI in shore power sources and, as long as there is no regulatory requirement, Samantha's tragedy is lying in wait for the next unsuspecting victim.

One of the technologies used in mines against this kind of hazard is continuous monitoring of the equipment grounding path. The problem with using this technology with a boat is the parallel path in the water and how to distinguish that from a real equipment ground particularly salt water.

The idea that an electrocution drowning cannot occur is salt water is contradicted by an industrial machine that in known as a single electrode spot welder. This runs current through a single copper bar parallel to the work. This is what is used to weld wire guards for air conditioners and fans. Even though the copper bar is of larger cross section and greater conductivity than the wire guard, there is nevertheless enough of a parallel path in the steel wires to produce efrective welding. If you tried to use a 2 electrode welder the electrodes would actually smash and ruin the joint.

Hello, all: Although I have 40 years in safety and was the Sr. Safety & Forensics Engineer for a fortune top 50 company and considered their leading electrical safety expert, my experience is minimal on boating electrical systems and hull designs (NAVY retired vet).

I agree with most of the commentary on the physiological effects of shock with lower skin impedance and energy gradients. I would like more commentary on solutions given metal, non-metal hulls, isolating electrical system frames, bonding, GFCI that can work in the presence of likely leakage currents, battery charging protocols like isolating the terminals and when one is simply being connected to marina power with all light and equipment. What do you see in the owners manual for this problem if any?

I publish a quarterly newsletter for Region II of the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) and this seems like a more than worthy subject to add in my "technical corner." I would appreciate comments on the above. Regards, Ernie Harper

This poor girl was killed by a voltage gradient. Voltage gradients are particularly deadly in fresh water-especially those fed by snow or glacial melt. If you see someone caught in a lake water voltage gradient you can save them if you know the direction of the voltage source. Leap into the water and stay upright-do not extend your arms or body. Swim body upright to the stricken person and turn them at mid body perpendicular to a line running from source pulling at the waste and swimming upright move from the source. Do not under any circumstance align any extended limb or body in line with the source-across the gradient.

Like the great one said knowledge is stored in two forms in books and and in a man's brain most important putting it into practice is who ever knows safety practices spread the word we can all learn unfortunately sometimes we wait for an accident to happen god bless us all.

I really do not know what type of houseboat this was. Assuming it had metal floatations and either an inboard or outboard. Regardless of the engine the battery should be charged independently of the rest of the electrical system. Because the negative side of the battery would be grounded to the engine or its mounts. There should have been a knife disconnect on the positive and negative cables to properly service the battery. This would stop the current from traveling through the rest of the system. Then there should have been an outlet on the boat to provide additional electric power to the electrical system through a cord, but the cord has to be plugged into a GFCI while docked, and when the battery is disconnected from the system.

I know it's trying to return to the source. I meant an object grounded to that system. The impedance of the water does make since as providing an acual circuit. I was looking at in the way you ground the neutral of a transformer. There's electricity there, but when you tap part of the windings you create a grounded conductor. You could (barefoor or not) grab two exposed parts of the transformer grounding electrode conductor and be fine. You could walk barefoot all over the ground and be fine. Even with insulated shoes on, grabbing a hot wire with no load in two exposed parts is harmless. No potential.

How Sad that this happened due to a lack of adequate protection. If I can remember there have been a number of occasions in which you Mike have mentioned deaths by electrocution in Marinas arround the US. I agree with the report that Earth leakage breakers be installed in all marinas and checked anually. I think too that all boats etc that have mains voltage systems (120/220) should also by law have earth leakage breakers so as to avoid issues like this from occuring. I know it is hard to police all the marinas and all the boats but should a death occur due to a lack of or faulty earth leakage protection system then the boat owner and mariner should be dealt with in the stiffest possible manner in order to create an atmosphere of comply or else. Secondly maybe it would be a good idea to use a form of Isolation transformer, so as to prevent any leakage to earth.

This sad story began with " Although there were “No Swimming” signs that warned of the danger of electrocution".

Personal responsibility is everyone's duty. The sign was posted for a reason. Yes, this is sad. Yes, this was preventable. And yes, the parents and the victim both shoulder some of the responsibility.

Accidents are never a single occurence. It is a series of incidents, all lined up like the tumblers in a lock. Remove any one of the incidents (or tumblers) and the accident does not occur and the lock does not open.

Had the victim paid heed to the waring sign, there would not have been an accident, even though there was electrical current in the water.

This in no way lessens the sadness of the families involved, and it is a tragic situation that was preventable.

What a horrible tragedy and my prayers go out to her family and friends.

Until this is addressed worldwide, would it help for a Samaritan (with electrical training) to tell the victim to swim away? Even if someone doesn't intentionally go for a swim, they could fall in. Maybe a couple of extra words on a sign...

Just a thought, Andy

So the issue of "is the marina is responsable for inspecting the dock electrical connections" is unresolved. Too bad.

Gentlemen, For 8 years I have been involved in marina "electric shock drowning" (I coined the term 6 years ago) as expert witness, written numerious articles, made many presentations to the marina industry, and was co-investigator in an extensive USCG grant to explore the problem in 2007. For those who wish some well researched answers about the causes and some solutions currently being provided you are invited to visit our website: http://www.marinaguard.net. I look forward to hearing from you. Jim

If the family of the deceased wished to prevent others from sharing a similar tragedy, then they should have settled for nothing less than legislation that would have placed the burden of prevention on all parties involved (including any governmental regulatory agency) and not settle on a private cash exchange with no public explanation. They did nothing to prevent this from happening again!

If we follow the line of reasoning that posting "NO SWIMMING" signs makes a hazard OK, Then why doesn't OSHA just require signs on work sites that say "DON'T GET HURT" and thus eliminate all accidents?

I have a problem saying that the marina owner is responsible to be sure the boat wiring is safe before allowing them to plug in. The marina owner is not a certified electrical contractor or inspector. The boat often has an electrical system with 120/240 volt AC and 12 volt DC, installed without inspection, and repaired by every owner in the back yard and out in the middle of the lake. Just how deep into the boat would this inspection have to go?

Near the water is a difficult location, as electrical panels, conduits, and power outlets are exposed to mechanical damage, water, and all sorts of modifications on the holiday weekend when the place is full.

Installing GFCI protection initially would be a start, but would require continued monitoring to insure that everything remained operative.

Alright I'm confused about this one. So there's no ground...OK. There's a fault that's undetermined where it came from, but a fault none the less. The hull is energized and is in contact with the water... OK. People are swimming in the water and getting shocked, one dies. How are they getting shocked? Where's the potential difference? Wouldn't they have to also be in contact with a grounded object or an object with different potential? How is electricity passing through the body?

right...they wanted to protect the marina from further incidents...and..oh yea..they kept the 750,000.

As sad as this is, I can relate. Back in 1974 the swim team captain was swimming in Lake Washington near Seattle and attempted to climb out of the water at a marina and lost his life due to electrocution blamed on "faulty wiring" at the time. GFIC's were just starting to enter the market & mandated at kitchen and bath receptacles at that time. There's no reason marinas could not be retrofitted with such; either new construction and or existing for insurance purposes. Another needless death taking an innocent person to Heaven way to early in her life. God Bless you Samantha and same to your family and friends;-)

who paid the sttlement, the marina or the boat owner?

Any reasonable person would expect that people in a marina might have contact with the water. A "no swimming" sign does not excuse the marina's owner from their responsibility to provide a safe facility. A GFCI system and proper bonding would have eliminated the problem - either that or not providing electricity to the boats.

The girl died a horrible, preventable death. Rather than excusing the owner from responsibility, the sign acknowledges that the owner was aware of the hazard and had done nothing to remedy it.

I pass my sympathy to the family Many states that have marinas do not do safety inspections or quality control of anything after the initial installation. Im sure here in my state where my sailboat is moored that the system is aprx 25 yrs old based on the products used. I see all kinds of code violations as well as safety issues. The biggest issue with me is the people who run heaters off of 14&16 gauge extension cords or the marina manager who allows unskilled people to do electrical work. I have my personal ways of settling this mess but my personal state refuses to follow any suggestions maybe some tough legal actions can take place to prevent anything further. In the trades we call this hot water;boats constantly requiring zinks to be changed are a sure sign of hot water,people need to start forcing the juridiction having authority to do the job they are paid to do Anyone having any comments please contact me on this sight. I have been a master electrician for 27 yrs