Alaska Ping
Posted on 02/13/2017 6:58:32 PM PST by artichokegrower
The U.S. Coast Guard is continuing to search for the six missing crewmembers of the Seattle-based crab fishing vessel Destination, which is believed to have sunk in the Bering Sea off St. George, Alaska over the weekend.
The Coast Guard said Saturday that it had launched a search after picking up an electronic position indicating radio beacon (EPIRB) alert from the fishing vessel approximately two miles northwest of St. George in the Bering Sea.
The EPIRB was recovered among a debris field containing buoys, a life ring from fishing vessel Destination and an oil sheen, the Coast Guard said.
(Excerpt) Read more at gcaptain.com ...
I heard this on the local Seattle radio - yes prayers for their souls and their grieving families.
“Weather on scene on Saturday was reported to be 30-mph winds with five to eight-foot seas and snowing. Air temp was reported to be 21 degrees with a sea temperature of 3o degrees. “
Not promising.
Prayers for them.
Prayers up.
I caught just a bit of a program about Alaska fishing vessels. Just enough to think that it was a tough way to earn a living. Probably paid well tho.
That weather’s not alarming. The problem with crabbers is that as they move toward automation, the (notoriously money hungry) crab captains cut their crews to the point where they don’t have the manpower to beat ice. The decks are loaded with empty pots that ice over and the ships capsize.
Alaska Ping
Psalm 95:5
The sea is his, for he made it
Coast Guard, Seattle.
Years ago, a new crag vessel was lost without a trace. They finally determined the cause was painting a new waterline too far up the side of the hull. Owners keep loading crab pots on ships until they reach the waterline to maximize profits from each trip during what is a really short season. In the case of that ship, the center of gravity was above water level allowing the ship to spin like a bingo cage.
The LST I served on had a center of gravity well below the waterline, but that created other problems. The ocean is just not forgiving.
A young man from our town way out in the Mojave Dessert got a job on one of those Bering Sea fishing boats and was lost overboard.
You go in the water up there, you don’t come back.
I wonder what happened. While 30-mph winds with five to eight-foot seas is not like a ride in a Cadillac, and it’s not conditions I want to get caught in on my boat, that looks like a stout boat and they were only 2 miles from shore. Shame/sad.
Pray for souls lost at sea.
Lucrative gamble, tough life. Is it the money or the call of the Sirens? Can you hear the Sirens on the Bering? May God have mercy on their souls, and bless the ones left behind.
Amen.
By the time snow crabs make it to my grocery store they cost $10 each.
Tough way to make a living. The hopeful part is “living”. Pray for these men.
Rogue wave, maybe.
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