Alec Frydman was a young man pursuing a new path in life when he signed on for his first trip aboard a commercial fishing vessel. Tragically, that first voyage turned into a nightmare. In his powerful first-person account published in The Atlantic (June 2025), Alec recounts a violent storm that…
The sinking of the 68-foot fishing vessel F/V CAPTAIN RALEIGH near Grays Harbor, Washington, has sent a wave of grief through Pacific Northwest fishing communities. The tragic incident has left Newport captain Jon Stevenson, a seasoned mariner, missing. In the wake of this devastating event, an outpouring of support for…
The U.S. Coast Guard District 17 headquarters announced that the next of kin of the five individuals missing after the sinking of the F/V WIND WALKER have been notified. The agency also released the names of the missing crew members. GoFundMe accounts have been established for all five grieving families:…
At approximately 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday May 14th, 2024, watchstanders at the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound received a call that the 91-foot F/V NORTH AMERICAN had partially sunk alongside a pier just east of the Ballard Bridge. The Seattle Fire Department responded and installed a containment boom around…
Watchstanders at U.S. Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound were notified around 6 a.m. that the 48-foot F/V CHIEF JOSEPH, was in distress and taking on water. Aboard the vessel was one individual and a dog. The pair evacuated the vessel using a life raft. Sector watchstanders dispatched an MH-65 Dolphin…
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has completed an inquiry into the 2022 sinking of the F/V HOTSPUR near Prince of Wales Island. The report concludes that an unnoticed leak in an unoccupied area likely caused the vessel to lose stability, capsize, and sink near Nunez Rocks. Bilge alarms failed…
U.S. Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound, the Washington Department of Ecology, and the Islands’ Oil Spill Association (IOSA) were deployed on Saturday, November 18th, 2023, to address the sinking of the 80-foot vessel EL CAPITAN at West Sound Marina on Orcas Island. Watchstanders at Sector Puget Sound command center were…
The U.S. Coast Guard rescued three people on Monday morning, May 29th, after their vessel sank in the waters off Cape Arago beach, about 15 miles southwest of Coos Bay. At about 8 a.m. the U. S. Coast Guard received a distress call reporting that a fishing boat was taking…
In August of 2020, multiple U.S. Coast Guard units received distress calls stating that the F/V ARCTIC FOX II, a 66-foot commercial fishing boat, had begun taking on water. The vessel was located about 85 miles off Cape Flattery, Washington at the time of trouble. The three crewmembers aboard were…
U.S. Coast Guard Watchstanders at the Thirteenth District in Seattle received an Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) transmission from the F/V ETHEL MAY on Sunday, February 5th at approximately 7:30 p.m. The 46-foot crabbing vessel was near the Willapa Bay entrance at the time of the distress transmission. Watchstanders…