Maritime Injury Law Blog

October 20, 2006

On Thursday night, October 19th, the search for the 26-year-old missing crewman of the Ocean Challenger was officially called off. Officials had searched more than 1,730 square miles in the North Pacific for two days. After 48 hours there is very little chance of survival in water temperatures of 48 degrees. The missing man was not wearing a survival suit.

It is still not known what caused the boat to capsize, but the weather was known to be severe.

The 58-foot commercial fishing Ocean Challenger capsized Wednesday in the stormy Pacific Ocean, 90 miles south of Sand Point, Alaska. Four were on board the fishing boat. Moments before the boat capsized, the fishermen launched a life raft, but none of them were able to get in it, overtaken by waves two stories high.

The Ocean Challenger was a longliner and home-ported out of Adak, Alaska. The Ocean Challenger had been fishing for black cod near the Sanak Islands and was traveling back to the Aleutian fishing town of Sand Point when it disappeared into the water.

The survivor, 28-year-old Kevin Ferrell, was the only person wearing a survival suit, the Coast Guard said. The two other men, skipper David “Cowboy” Hasselquist of Hoonah, Alaska and Walter Foster of Westport, Washington, were dead when pulled from the water by a rescue swimmer. The missing man, a 26-year-old Kodiak fisherman, was reportedly not wearing a survival suit, the Coast Guard said

On July 5, 2006, Peter Horn, 54, suffered chest pains and mutiple abrasionas and lacerations to his abdomen when a rigging form the 50-foot vessel, Ann Elizabeth, fell overboard, taking him with it. Horn was pinned between the cable and hull of the vessel. His shipmates helped him back aboard the boat after he freed himself.

A Coast Guard helicopter from the Air Station in Atlantic City was dispatched to the scene and medevaced Horn to South Jersey Medical Center in Neptune, N.J. The accident took place 25 miles off the coast of Manasquan Inlet, N.J. The Ann Elizabeth home ports in Barnegat Light, N.J.

Source: USCG Press Release

At around 11:30 pm on May 7, 2006, the 30-foot fishing vessel, Lady Alliene, AKA Calico Dog, had two crewmen aboard when it overturned on its way into Unalaska Bay near Dutch Harbor. The boat was returning from cod fishing, and had 2,700 pounds of cod on deck, when the accident occurred. Weather at the time of the incident was dark and rainy, with poor visibility and five-foot seas.

One of the two crewmen was able to crawl out onto the top of the overturned hull. He was eventually rescued by a passing Alaska State Trooper vessel, the Stimpson. The second man has not been found. Neither man was wearing a life jacket or survival suit.

Source: USCG Alaska Press Release