Tag Archives: formerly the Navy vessel John McDonnell

Former Navy ship embarks on new career catching and processing fish off Alaska

cd6ede4c-2900-11e6-a8e0-56660c973af9-1560x1039Seattle’s fishing industry on Thursday feted the latest addition to the fleet, a 233-foot former Navy oceanographic vessel overhauled at a cost of more than $30 million for a new line of work — catching and processing fish off Alaska. The Lake Union ceremony drew several hundred people to watch the traditional breaking of a Champagne bottle across the bow of the former John McDonnell, newly christened as the Seafreeze America. Later this month, the ship will head north to harvest yellowfin sole and other species in the Bering Sea. In a Seattle increasingly swept up in a tech boom, the SeaFreeze Amercia offers a reminder of the vitality of an older and still potent Puget Sound industry. Read the rest here 14:49