January 23, 2008 the 78-foot crabbing vessel, Anna Marie, became grounded on the north end of Copalis Beach, WA. No injuries were reported. Attempts continue to try and pull the vessel back to deeper water. 2000 gallons of fuel and 200 gallons of other petroleum products are aboard, and they appear to be secure for the time being.
Source: USCG
January 21, 2008 the 69-foot fishing boat, Haeshin, hit a jetty near Westport, WA and sank into the channel. All three crew members were rescued before the vessel went under in 30 feet of water.
The Haeshin reportedly had 540 gallons of diesel aboard when it sank. Crews were unable to remove the fuel at the time due to conditions. Sonar was later used to try and locate the sunken boat, as it appeared to have drifted from it’s known location. The vessel has not yet been found, and no signs of a diesel spill have been reported.
Source: USCG
January 25, 2008 Coast Guard investigators announced that the Lady of Grace capsized and sank on January 26, 2007 likely because of excessive ice buildup on the rigging, making it top heavy.
The Lady of Grace was approximately 12 miles out from Hyannis, Mass when it sank, losing all four New Bedford fishermen aboard. No one saw the sinking or had radio contact with the Lady of Grace at the time of the incident, but vessels in the area at the time provided weather conditions to assist in reconstruction of the incident.
194 commercial fishing vessels have been lost in the Northeast due to capsizing or sinking in the past 15 years, with two of them believed to have been due to icing.
The Coast Guard will be conducting safety spot checks, voluntary dockside exams, and offering basic safety training in various Northwest ports from November 26-28, 2007 as part of “Operation Safe Crab.”
Coast Guard examiners will be checking that vessels have all the proper safety equipment on board and that proper pot loading practices are being followed. As part of the equipment check they will be looking at survival suits, EPIRBS, and life rafts, to make sure they are ready for use should an emergency at sea occur. Past checks have found that 25% to35% of EPIRBS and life rafts are installed improperly. If any deficiencies are found during these checks the vessel may be restricted from operating until they are corrected.
The ultimate goal of “Operation Safe Crab” is to reduce the number of lives lost at sea. Commercial Dungeness crabbing vessels have the highest fatality rate of any West Coast fishery.
Monday, November 26th, 2007: Lady Blackie, a 90 foot fishing vessel, began taking on water at about 4:45 am in Wide Bay in Shelikof Strait. An EPIRB signal alerted the Coast Guard, who was able to make contact with the boat and learned that the vessel was taking on water and the crew could not access the pumps.
The three men and one woman donned survival suits and boarded the life raft with their dog, Tusk, an additional EPIRB, strobe lights, and a parachute flare. They were located about 30 minutes later by the Coast Guard, in good condition, and were praised for doing all the right things to be found quickly and safely.
On Friday, November 23, 2007 the Canadian cruise ship “M/S Explorer” began taking on water after hitting submerged ice off of Antarctica’s South Shetland Islands. 154 tourists and crew abandoned ship into lifeboats, and were later picked up by the Norwegian liner Nordnorge, that took them safely to a Chilean air force base on King George Island in South America.
The Explorer was owned by Susan Hayes of G.A.P. Adventures of Toronto, a tour company that leads eco-friendly cruises. The Explorer was in the middle of a 19-day trip around Antarctica and the Falkland Islands when the incident occurred.
The Explorer listed to it’ starboard side shortly after the collision and by Friday evening had sunk. No injuries were reported.
On October 21, 2007 off of Coney Island, New York a 24-foot fishing boat collided with a barge. Two men were killed and two were injured when the fishing boat overturned. Police divers pulled one of the survivors from under the boat and the other was rescued by a passing fishing vessel. A third man was pronounced dead at the scene while the fourth man died later. The Coast Guard is investigating.
Icicle Seafoods is being acquired by Fox Paine Management III LLC. On August 5 a news release stated the deal was expected to close within 90 days. Icicle believes that this acquisition will help them to fulfill their vision of growing operations in new markets, and building up their existing markets.
Icicle is a major processor of wild Alaska salmon, pollock, crab, halibut, cod, sablefish and herring. Icicle is based in Seattle, but employs 2,200 people in operations in Alaska, Washington State, Oregon, Japan and Chile. There is expected to be no changes in staffing of the company.
Source: Alaska Journal of Commerce
A fisherman had to be airlifted after being injured aboard the fishing vessel Muir Milach near Ilwaco, WA on June 29. A helicopter from Coast Guard Station Astoria and a lifeboat crew from Station Cape Disappointment were dispatched to assist the man, who was later transported to a hospital in Portland, Ore.
Commercial fishing is an occupation with a high risk of injury. If injured while at work aboard fishing vessel, be sure to find out about your rights to compensation under maritime law and the Jones Act. Contact the experienced maritime lawyers at Beard Stacey Trueb & Jacobsen for a free consultation and explore our website for FAQs and basic maritime law information.
The Spirit of Yorktown, a 257-foot cruise vessel, crashed into a much smaller fishing vessel, the Adirondack, on June 25 in Chatham Strait in southeast Alaska. This is the Spirit of Yorktown’s second mishap in two years, the first occurring when the boat ran aground in Washington State last year. The collision is under investigation by the Coast Guard.
No one was injured in the collision, but Adirondack’s steering was disabled and the fishing vessel had to be towed to port. The vessel also sustained damage to its right side and top house. The Spirit of Yorktown reported no damage.
The owner of Adirondack hoped to have his vessel – his livelihood – back on the water within a week of the collision.
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