Crewman found dead on trawler near Dutch Harbor

From the Alaska State Troopers:

Location: Unimak

Type: Deceased person

On 1/27/25 Alaska State Troopers received a report of a death. Kien Au, 66, a crewmember onboard a large trawler about 110 miles from Dutch Harbor, was found deceased in his room. Next of kin has been notified. The state medical examiner's office has received the remains and conducted an autopsy. It was determined that Au passed away from natural causes. No foul play has been suspected.

Unalaska outbreak

The city of Unalaska is reporting numerous crewmen aboard two trawlers, the Enterprise and the Legacy, have tested positive for the coronavirus.

Horrible news out of Russia

Dozens are reported dead in a trawler sinking in the Sea of Okhotsk.

Here's one news report.

Fishermen's Finest to build advanced trawler

Fishermen's Finest Inc. is planning to build a highly advanced new factory trawler. That's an artist's rendering above.

The Kirkland, Washington, company last week signed a deal with Dakota Creek Industries Inc. to construct the vessel, to be named America's Finest.

Fishermen's Finest says the 262-foot trawler will be "the first carbon-neutral fishing vessel in the world and will fully utilize every fish caught."

The company already operates two factory trawlers, American No. 1 and U.S. Intrepid. Both were built in the late 1970s.

Fishermen's Finest is part of the so-called Amendment 80 fleet, which targets species such as yellowfin sole, cod and Pacific ocean perch in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska.

Helo medevacs crewman shocked aboard trawler

A Coast Guard helicopter today airlifted a crewman suffering cardiac complications after receiving an electric shock aboard the 145-foot trawler Cape Horn.

The crewman reportedly took a shock of 480 volts while working on an electrical switchboard, the Coast Guard said.

The Cape Horn was in the Bering Sea, 172 miles northwest of Dillingham.

The helicopter reached the vessel at 1:25 p.m., safely hoisted the crewman and delivered him for care at Dillingham.

The Coast Guard didn't name the 43-year-old victim.

Another head injury reported on a factory trawler

The U.S. Coast Guard is reporting a man was medevaced this morning off the Bering Sea factory trawler Alaska Ocean after he was "struck in the head by one of the vessel's cables."

A Coast Guard helicopter crew hoisted Franz d'Alquen, 46, at about 11:20 a.m.

The 376-foot trawler was in calm seas some 50 miles north of Cold Bay. Glacier Fish Co. of Seattle operates the vessel.

Crewman killed aboard factory trawler

A crewman died aboard the factory trawler Alaska Juris this past Thursday, reportedly after a cable snapped and hit him in the head, a U.S. Coast Guard spokeswoman said.

Two rescue helicopters responded and lowered a rescue swimmer to the 238-foot vessel, which was more than 150 miles southwest of Dutch Harbor when the call for help came in, said Coast Guard Petty Officer Charly Hengen.

The crewman wasn't hoisted, however, as he was deceased.

The Alaska State Troopers identified the victim as Andrew Fotu, 25, of Seattle.

The Alaska Juris is part of the Fishing Company of Alaska fleet. The company is based in Renton, Wash.

Severe weather coming; trawler needs assist

Deckboss is sure you've seen some of the many media reports of rough weather sweeping into the Bering Sea and Western Alaska.

The U.S. Coast Guard this afternoon issued this press release talking about its preparations, plus efforts to asset a disabled trawler.

The release says in part:

The Coast Guard and commercial services are currently responding to a request for assistance from the 143-foot fishing trawler Rebecca Irene 138 miles northwest of Unimak Pass in the Bering Sea.

Communications Station Kodiak received a call from the master of the fishing vessel at 3:45 a.m. reporting that one of their engines had become inoperable and they were under way with limited propulsion. They are headed toward Unimak Island at about 6 mph with 34 people aboard. The weather is forecast to degrade to 55 mph winds with seas of 35-feet by late afternoon.

The cutter Sherman is currently on scene and is planning to take all nonessential Rebecca Irene crewmembers aboard. The transfer will be conducted using the Sherman's small boat.

The parent company of the Rebecca Irene has contracted with Magone Marine of Dutch Harbor for the tug Double Eagle to respond and tow the fishing vessel.

Distress call near Kodiak ends happily

This just in from the U.S. Coast Guard:

April 21, 2011

Coast Guard responds to mayday call miles north of Kodiak

KODIAK — Coast Guard Sector Anchorage launched an MH-60 Jayhawk rescue helicopter after receiving a mayday call from a crewmember aboard the 71-foot stern trawler Coho reporting they were taking on water with three people aboard 20 miles northwest of Kodiak at 12:08 a.m.

The helicopter crew and the nearby good Samaritan vessel Leslie Lee were able to transport dewatering pumps but the Coho crew declined assistance after they were able to dewater the vessel.

"We train everyday to help maintain readiness for any emergency situation," said Senior Chief Petty Officer Rex Walsingham, Sector Anchorage command center supervisor. "The training benefited us today as we were on scene and prepared to assist the crew aboard the Coho as needed."

The crew aboard the fishing vessel moored safely in Kodiak at 9 a.m.

Here's a Coast Guard video of the response.

Big boat in the village?

Deckboss is somewhat dismayed that Coastal Villages Region Fund has yet to put out a public statement about its business split from that big, Seattle-based fishing company, American Seafoods.

But I notice that Coastal, evidently, has relocated already the enormous pollock factory trawler it acquired in the divorce.

According to Coastal's handsomely redesigned website, the home port for the 341-foot Northern Hawk is now Chevak, a Cup'ik Eskimo village of about 920 people in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.

Chevak, of course, is one of 20 villages Coastal represents under the federal Community Development Quota program.

Who needs survival suits?

The trawler Topaz. USCG photo

Here's some news from the U.S. Coast Guard:

Jan. 14, 2010

Cutter terminates fishing vessel voyage for safety violation

KODIAK — The Coast Guard cutter Acushnet terminated the voyage of the commercial fishing vessel Topaz after a boarding Thursday about 14 miles southeast of Cape Chiniak.

A boarding team found the vessel master operating without any immersion suits available for the crew. The Coast Guard requires commercial fishing vessels to operate with immersion suits available for each crewmember in appropriate sizes.

"This was a serious oversight by the crew of the fishing vessel Topaz and could have resulted in a significant loss of life had it not been for the vigilance of the Acushnet's boarding team," said Lt. Kirk Fistick, operations officer for the Acushnet. "We were happy to clear the violation upon returning to Kodiak, where the survival suits were stored."

At the time of the boarding, the Topaz, a stern trawler, was conducting a test trawl in an approved area to ensure all fishing gear was operational.

All vessels are reminded that they must carry immersion suits at all times while under way.

The vessel's crew was escorted by the Acushnet to the Kodiak port. The boarding team remained on board during the transit.

"The boarding team from the cutter Acushnet was able to inspect the survival suits that were waiting at the pier, allowing the fishing vessel Topaz to get under way the next day," Fistick said.

The crew of the Acushnet boarded four other vessels Thursday in the Kodiak area.

Council votes to look at crab bycatch controls

Here's an update on that photographic evidence of appalling bairdi Tanner crab bycatch in the Gulf of Alaska.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council late Thursday voted to analyze options to possibly close important crab waters off Kodiak.

The closures could apply not only to groundfish trawlers, but also to pot boats that incur crab bycatch while pursuing cod.

By the way, it's probably not accurate for readers to conclude the council action was a direct response to seeing those pictures of wasted crab.

In fact, crab as well as salmon bycatch in the Gulf commercial fisheries has been on the council's radar screen for some years now.

Read all about it in this discussion paper prepared for this week's council meeting.

Scandalous crab bycatch exposed?

Bairdi, bagged and broken. Photo courtesy Alexus Kwachka

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council has been meeting all week in Anchorage, but Deckboss didn't bother to attend the first few days. Frankly, the agenda looked kinda boring.

This afternoon, however, I decided to make at least a brief appearance.

And wouldn't you know, the action in the council chamber suddenly livened up only moments after your correspondent walked in.

A fisherman, Alexus Kwachka, was among several people testifying about the problem of the growing incidental capture — that's bycatch, in industry parlance — of bairdi Tanner crab in trawl nets dragging for groundfish around Kodiak.

Now, it's old sport down at the council for the guys who fish with pots and hooks to criticize the guys who fish with yawning trawl nets that often drag the ocean floor.

But Kwachka had more than just talk. He brought a series of rather startling photos depicting big mounds of Tanner crab bycatch on the deck of an unidentified trawler.

The pictures were said to have been taken this past summer. I've posted one here showing a multitude of Tanners mixed in with various fish.

To Kwachka and others, the pictures show why the council needs to take swift action to boot trawlers out of the crab grounds so Tanner stocks can complete an apparent revival and provide good income for small-scale fishermen.

A big problem is that Gulf trawlers most of the time carry no federal fishery observer to document the level of bycatch, say activists with the Alaska Marine Conservation Council.

Now I'm just guessing, but I wouldn't expect the trawl industry to concede that these pictures are anything more than anecdotal.

But dang, they really are troubling images, all those half-mangled crab hauled up as waste.

It'll be interesting to see how the council handles this.

Search on for another man overboard

The vessel involved belongs to Seattle-based Fishing Company of Alaska Inc.

Here's the press release:

U.S. Coast Guard, 17th District

July 6, 2009

Coast Guard searching for man overboard near Aleutian Islands

KODIAK, Alaska — The Coast Guard is searching for a man reported overboard from the commercial fishing vessel Alaska Warrior in Amukta Pass 218 miles west of Dutch Harbor.

Coast Guard Sector Anchorage received a call at 1:15 p.m. Monday from the Alaska Warrior crew reporting a 58-year-old Japanese man fell overboard at 12:45 p.m. with no survival gear or life jacket on.

A Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter and an HC-130 Hercules aircraft from Air Station Kodiak were launched at approximately 3 p.m. The aircraft are expected on scene this evening.

The Alaska Warrior’s crew and its sister ship, the Alaska Juris, are actively searching for the crewmember.

Reported weather conditions in the area are 23 mph winds with seas to eight feet and overcast skies. The sea temperature during this time of year can range from the low to high 40s.

The Alaska Warrior is a 192-foot trawler homeported in Seattle. The Alaska Juris is a 218-foot trawler also homeported in Seattle. Both vessels routinely operate out of Dutch Harbor.

Say a prayer

Below is the latest on the missing crewman off the trawler Rebecca Irene.

The Anchorage Daily News yesterday reported the crewman was noticed missing after he failed to show up for watch duty.

U.S. Coast Guard, 17th District

July 5, 2009

Coast Guard suspends search for man overboard in Bering Sea

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The Coast Guard suspended the search at 12:37 a.m. Sunday for a man that reportedly fell overboard from the commercial fishing vessel Rebecca Irene 24 miles southeast of Umnak Island.

An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter was launched Saturday from Air Station Kodiak after the crew of the Rebecca Irene reported Nhial Opiew, a 38-year-old man, was reported missing at about 8:34 a.m. Saturday.

The crew of the Rebecca Irene searched for approximately 14 hours with assistance from two good Samaritan vessels. The combined search effort covered more than 100 square miles.

“The search was severely hampered by visibility as low as one half mile at sea level throughout the day,” according to Lt. Nathaniel Johnson, command duty officer at the District 17 Command Center.

A Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules aircraft crew from Air Station Kodiak was launched also Saturday morning as well as an HH-65C Dolphin helicopter deployed aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Alex Haley on patrol in the Bering Sea. Due to poor visibility and vast offshore distances neither asset could search effectively.

The Rebecca Irene is a 140-foot trawler homeported in Seattle that was fishing for Pacific Ocean perch.

Opiew’s hometown is unknown.

Search on for missing crewman

The trawler Rebecca Irene. Groundfish Forum photo

From the U.S. Coast Guard:

July 4, 2009

Coast Guard searching for man overboard from Seattle vessel south of Umnak Island

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The Coast Guard is searching for a man overboard from the commercial fishing vessel Rebecca Irene 24 miles southeast of Umnak Island.

The Coast Guard received the report of the missing crewmember at about 8:34 a.m. Saturday from the crew of the Rebecca Irene.

A Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules aircraft crew from Air Station Kodiak was launched Saturday morning as well as a MH-65 Dolphin helicopter deployed aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Alex Haley on patrol in the Bering Sea. Due to poor visibility and vast offshore distances neither asset can search effectively. An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter is being launched from Air Station Kodiak but is several hours away.

The crew of the Rebecca Irene is searching in addition to good Samaritans on several other fishing vessels in the area.

Reported weather in the area is 23 to 28 mph winds with seas eight to 10 feet and visibility of a quarter mile. The sea temperature is 43 degrees.

The Rebecca Irene is 140-foot trawler homeported in Seattle.

Mar-Gun saved!

The Bering Sea pollock trawler Mar-Gun is afloat again after 10 weeks aground. U.S. Coast Guard photo

U.S. Coast Guard, 17th District

May 13, 2009

Coast Guard, salvors recover Mar-Gun from St. George beach after 10-week effort

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - The Coast Guard assisted salvors in successfully recovering the 112-foot fishing vessel Mar-Gun from Staraya Beach on the north end of St. George Island in the Bering Sea Wednesday at 1:04 a.m.

The vessel is currently moored in Zapadni Harbor, St. George Island, undergoing a thorough damage survey. The Redeemer, based out of Dutch Harbor, will tow the Mar-Gun to Dutch Harbor for repairs. The transit is estimated to take about 30 hours.

The team used ground tackle, including three sea anchors weighing 8,000 to 10,000 pounds each, and a winch system to pull the vessel from the beach which took place over several high tide cycles.

Responders removed 19,000 gallons of diesel and 660 gallons of lube oil from the vessel in March. During the effort they faced winter conditions, high winds, rough seas and ice.

"This was a tremendous effort by all involved," said Cmdr. Steven Pearson, chief of response Coast Guard Sector Anchorage. "The remote area and the sensitive nature of the habitat posed challenges to the effort that our diverse team overcame admirably and resulted in the successful recovery of the vessel."

A subsistence sampling program has been developed and will be implemented now that the vessel has been removed. The unified command recommends no subsistence harvests be conducted in the immediate area until sufficient sampling can be completed.

To date neither the 18th century Russian settlement, Staraya Artil, nor the palentological site of the 2,000 year-old marine mammal bones have been impacted. Safeguards were in place to prevent damage to these locations.

The Seattle-based Mar-Gun grounded March 5 some 200 yards off the north end of St. George Island. All five crewmembers were rescued by a Coast Guard helicopter and delivered to St. Paul. Response efforts to mitigate the pollution potential began immediately.

Slow going on trawler rescue

The trawler Mar-Gun as she appeared April 11. USCG photo

An update from state pollution regulators says the soonest a salvage crew might recover the beached Bering Sea trawler Mar-Gun is April 27-28, the next high-tide window.

The 112-foot pollock boat went aground March 5 on St. George Island. All five crewmen got off safely, but extracting the boat from the beach has become a major chore.

The U.S. Coast Guard continues to investigate why the vessel grounded.

Here's part of yesterday's "situation report" from the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation:

RESPONSE ACTION: Salvors conducted vessel, helicopter and fabrication operations during the past few days although poor weather prevented work on the vessel most of last week.

On board the vessel, crews continue to knock off accumulated ice as it forms on the vessel. Workers prepped and completed laying a fairlead cross-member foundation to support recovery operations on the aft deck port and starboard sides. Workers were also able to enter the shaft alley through the forward cover plate. The packing gland was tightened down, and Splash Zone (marine epoxy putty) was applied over miscellaneous fittings and holes in the bulkhead between the engine room and the shaft alley. The packing gland is a gasket system through which the propeller shaft passes through the hull. Work also continues on the inspection of the vessel double bottom tanks, and work was performed in preparation for removing the rudder from the vessel.

The salvors continue to use helicopter operations to transfer additional steel and fabricated parts to and from the vessel.

The vessel is ready to receive the blocks for the multi-part tackle system, but heavy winds and freezing spray have delayed the block and tackle installation until the weather improves.

The M/V Redeemer crew has loaded the first of three offshore anchors sets which will be needed for the recovery operations. The M/V Redeemer is currently in Dutch Harbor waiting for a favorable weather window to travel to the Mar-Gun grounding location where the M/V Redeemer will set the first anchor system.

FUTURE PLANS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: Continue operations on board the vessel and in temporary fabrication locations to prepare for vessel recovery. Set three large anchor systems in preparation for the vessel removal. The next high-tide window for the potential removal of Mar-Gun from the shore is April 27-28, 2009.