over. i can t breathe. reporter: 33 passengers were asleep on the bottom deck when the flames consumed the ship, just before 3:30 in the morning on monday. five crew members were able to jump off ship, and were helped to safety by good samaritans on board a nearby ship. i wish i could have picked all 35 of them up, all of them, i got the space, you know, if they could have all just gotten in the water, i could have got them out of there. reporter: as the boat burned, frantic dispatchers tried to regain communication with the ship, desperate for more information. roger are they locked inside the boat, roger, can you get back on board and unlock the boat, unlock the door so they can get off? roger, you don t have any fire fighting gear at all, no fire extinguishers or anything. but no response heard on the recording. fire crews and emergency responders tried to battle the flames but it was too late. the fire was so intense that
reporter: 33 passengers were asleep on the bottom deck when the flames consumed the ship just before 3:30 in the morning on monday. five crew members were able to jump off ship and were helped to safety by good samaritans on board a nearby ship. i wish i could have picked all 35 of them up, i mean, all of them. i got the space. you know, and if they could have all just gotten in the water, i could have got them out of there. reporter: as the boat burned, frantic dispatchers tried to regain communication with the ship, desperate for more information. roger, are they locked inside the boat? roger can you get back on board and unlock the boat, unlock the doors so they can get off? roger, you don t have any fire fighting gear at all, no fire extinguishers or anything? no response heard on the recording. fire crews and emergency responders tried to battle the flames, but it was too late. the fire was so intense that