Posted on 10/24/2008 12:19:45 PM PDT by jazusamo
Four crew of the fishing vessel Katmai were rescued, but five were killed and two remain missing after the boat sank early Wednesday in the Bering Sea off the Aleutian Islands.
A couple of years ago, a jobless Bobby Harrison contemplated a dramatic shift in lifestyle, leaving the urban comforts of Portland to join his cousin aboard the Katmai, a fishing vessel that tapped into the harvests off Alaska.
But Harrison couldn't swim, and had heard a few too many tales about the dangers of fishing the North Pacific.
He opted to stay put.
"I heard stories about guys who had lost limbs and arms, and was just too scared to go," he said.
Thursday, Harrison's cousin, Cedric Smith, and a longtime friend, Glenn Harper, were identified as two of the men who died when the Katmai sank early Wednesday morning off the Aleutian Islands. Their bodies, along with three others, were recovered from the Bering Sea on Wednesday.
Two men — Carlos Zabala of Helena, Mont., and Robert Davis of Deming, Whatcom County — remained missing and the focus of a major search after four were rescued from a life raft Wednesday evening.
The Katmai was part of the head-and-gut fleet — vessels that catch, clean and freeze fish in labor-intensive operations that require more crew than traditional fishing boats.
This is the third time in eight years that a head-and-gut vessel has sank off Alaska. The trio of sinkings have claimed at least 25 lives, and the fleet has been under a Coast Guard safety spotlight, which will ramp up again next week as a Marine Board of Investigation convenes in Anchorage to delve into the latest sinking and how to prevent future casualties.
(Excerpt) Read more at seattletimes.nwsource.com ...
Search resumes for two men missing from Alaska fishing vessel
Holds packed with frozen fish, everyone tired and wornout,
a turn at the wrong moment and disaster.
Amazing they even saved four.
Far too cold to attempt to retrieve the ball...
Agreed, I thought it was a miracle that four survived. Many thanks go to the Coasties and other searchers.
The video is awesome, that rescue swimmer must have balls of brass. Heros all, those coasties.
Modern technology, EPIRBS, survival suits, can make a difference, without them it’s over.
It seems they weren’t able to deploy a sea anchor or drag of any kind, even streaming oil, once they couldn’t get the bow around it was only a matter of time.
Bump to that! The resuce swimmers and crews lay it all on the line every time they go on an incident up there.
I have been living in Alaska since 1992, lots of the real high paying seasonal work jobs are almost always very dangerous. I have a 28’ gillnetter bowpicker I am working on to fish down near Valdez. Tough job indeed.
Anybody who has NEVER been to Alaska please really listen when you do meet an Alaskan, this place can kill you in a heartbeat, there are few really safe places even in big city Anchorage, women joggers were mauled by a bear and I witnessed a man killed by a moose many years ago.
Thanks for posting, I see you’re in the now famous town of Wasilla. :)
Knew a fire cat transport driver for some years that drove truck in AK for 15 or so years in the 50’s and 60’s. He moved to So CA to get away from the winter cold and dangers and said it was the best move he ever made but still said he missed AK.
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