Tag Archives: Captain Gary Cobban Jr.
Read the final Coast Guard report on the 2019 sinking of F/V Scandies Rose in Gulf of Alaska
The U.S. Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation has issued its final report on the sinking of the 130-foot crab vessel Scandies Rose on New Year’s Eve, 2019, a tragedy that took the lives of five men on board, including the captain. Two crew members, Dean Gribble Jr., of Edmonds, Wash., and Jon Lawler, of Anchorage, survived by reaching a life raft in the roiling the Gulf of Alaska; they were rescued by U.S. Coast Guard near Sutwick Island off the Alaska Peninsula. Captain Gary Cobban, Jr. and his son David, Seth Rousseau-Gano, Arthur Ganacias, and Brock Rainey died. Lawler died in a motorcycle accident on Oct. 31, 2021, leaving Gribble as the sole survivor of the disaster. The Marine Board of Investigations found a major factor in the sinking was the captain’s judgment. An earlier report by the National Transportation Safety Board was more guarded in assigning blame. more, >>click to read<< 08:19
Nearly 3 years after deadly sinking, debris from F/V Scandies Rose finds its way to a family in Kodiak
Seven men were on board the F/V Scandies Rose when she went down during stormy weather in the waters off Sutwik Island near Chignik, on New Year’s Eve, 2019. Two survivors were plucked from the water in the hours after the vessel sank by Coast Guard rescue crews. But five crew members were never found and presumed dead. Those included the ship’s captain, Gary Cobban Jr. and his son David Cobban, both from Kodiak. The ship, a 130-foot crabbing boat, was enroute from Kodiak to fishing grounds in the Bering Sea and stacked with 198 crab pots when it sank. Now, nearly three years later, those buoys and other pieces of the ship have started washing ashore, bringing closure to Gerry Knagin and some of the other family members of the crew members lost. >click to read< 13:32
U.S. Coast Guard to hold virtual formal hearing for loss of F/V Scandies Rose
The U.S. Coast Guard is scheduled to conduct a formal hearing starting Monday February 22 in Edmonds Wash., to consider evidence related to the sinking of the fishing vessel Scandies Rose. The hearing will focus on the conditions influencing the vessel prior to and at the time of the casualty. This will include weather, icing, fisheries, the Scandies Rose’s material condition, owner and operator organizational structures and culture, the regulatory compliance record of the vessel, and testimony from the survivors and others.>click to read< 12:21
Marine Board of Investigation: Coast Guard looking for details regarding F/V Scandies Rose ahead of public hearing, November 25, 2020 – >click to read<
Settlement reached in sinking of F/V Scandies Rose for more than $9 million to surviving crewmen and families
The owners of the Scandies Rose have reached a settlement of more than $9 million with two surviving crew and the families of four men who died when the Washington-managed crab boat went down Dec. 31 off Alaska. Jerry Markham, an attorney for the families of three of the deceased, also confirmed the settlement, and said his clients “are relieved and pleased that the matter is settled.” The Scandies Rose disaster took the lives of five crew,,, The two survivors of the Scandies Rose, Dean Gribble Jr., and Jon Lawler, told harrowing tales of a severe list that imperiled the vessel. Both Lawler and Gribble eventually made it to a life raft.,,, >click to read< 10:14
When F/V Scandies Rose sunk west of Kodiak, he survived. Now he’s grappling with losing his crewmates.
Dean Gribble, one of the survivors, grew up in Washington. He began salmon tendering when he was 11, and he’s spent the past 21 years crab fishing. “I was born a commercial fisherman,” said Gribble. “It’s in my blood. My dad and my family have all been in it. Other kids grew up having football or baseball players as their heroes, and I had crabbers as mine.” On New Year’s Eve, Gribble hadn’t planned to be on the Scandies Rose, which is homported in Dutch Harbor. But a crew member quit in late December, and his friend, John Lawler, asked him to fill in. >click to read< 06:55
Battling the waves to stay alive: A tale of survival from the F/V Scandies Rose
For John Lawler, the only encouraging thing was a glow from a second life raft about a quarter-mile away. He hoped that light would stay on, and someone would find him and crewmate Dean Gribble Jr. in the pitch-black aftermath of Scandies Rose crab boat going down in the Gulf of Alaska. “We would lose sight of it because the waves were so big, but it would always reappear, ” said Lawler, a 34-year-old crabber from Anchorage, Alaska. >click to read< 18:51
After the sinking of the F/V Scandies Rose, an aftermath of anguish
Before Alaska crabber Brock Rainey headed out to start a new season, he checked in with his longtime friend Mike Daily. This winter was no different. “Tossing lines for the Bering Sea today…Love you brother,” Rainey texted in the hours before the boat he crewed on, the Scandies Rose, left Kodiak on Monday. The 130-foot vessel never reached its next port. Rainey and four others, including two men from Washington, were not found during a 20-hour search that was called off Wednesday night. >click to read< 16:53
A Fundraiser has been started by Hailey and Lukas Engstrom for the family’s of F/V Scandies Rose – >Please click here<
F/V Scandies Rose: Coast Guard suspends search, Releases names of five missing fishermen and two survivors
The Coast Guard suspended its search Wednesday at 6:08 p.m. for five missing fishermen in the waters near Sutwik Island, Alaska. The five missing are:
Gary Cobban, Jr. (Master), David Lee Cobban, Arthur Ganacias, Brock Rainey, and Seth Rousseau-Gano. The two survivors are Dean Gribble Jr., and John Lawler. The search spanned over 20 hours, 1,400 square miles and included the following assets,,, >click to read< 19:17
