Sunken salmon seiner salvaged

The Lively Jane, a salmon seiner that hit a rock and sank July 13 southwest of Valdez, has been refloated. That's her there on the right, with the salvage tug Oswell Foss to starboard. The plan is to tow the seiner to Cordova for drydocking and repair, the U.S. Coast Guard said this afternoon. USCG photo

A pretty lady lost

The Lively Jane in happier times. Joshua Roper photo

We told you last week about the Lively Jane, a Prince William Sound salmon seiner that hit a rock and sank in Anderson Bay six miles southwest of Valdez.

Sometimes when we hear a report that a boat has sunk, it means she just swamped. But as you can see by the smaller photo from the U.S. Coast Guard, the Lively Jane went to the bottom. Boom was deployed around the sunken seiner to corral any fuel or oil leakage.

Divers were able to plug the vessel's fuel vents and "remove the 20 feet of seine net and bridle from the vessel," said the Coast Guard, noting it was monitoring salvage efforts.

Fortunately, all five crewmen got off safely. But too bad for this pretty boat.

My thanks to Joshua Roper Photography for the nice shot of the Lively Jane.