Tag Archives: David Cobban

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

F/V Scandies Rose: Survivor Jon Lawler’s Wrenching Testimony, Experts note serious flaws in a USCG regulation

The architects who testified were not involved with the development of the stability booklet for the Scandies Rose, a Washington managed boat which went down around 10 p.m. in the Gulf of Alaska during a storm that generated National Weather Service warnings of heavy freezing spray. Also Wednesday, Jon Lawler, one of the two survivors of the seven-person crew, offered wrenching testimony of the final minutes before the boat went under. After donning a survival suit, he exited the wheelhouse amid what he described as sheer panic as the boat tilted crazily and tossed people about.  >click to read< 17:38

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

F/V Scandies Rose: Family of missing fishermen mourn but pledge to keep fishing

Fishing runs deep in the DNA of the Cobban family so they know as well as anyone how dangerous the profession can be.  Four generations of commercial fishermen from the family have fished out of Kodiak. On New Year’s Eve, members from two generations were lost when their vessel capsized off of the Alaska Peninsula near Sutwik Island. On Wednesday evening, the Coast Guard called off the search for five of the crew members who weren’t located during the initial response.  That’s left family members coming to terms with the fact that their loved ones likely won’t be coming home. >click to read< 07:08