Tag Archives: Heavy ice

Overloading, heavy ice and an open hatch: Coast Guard details what sank the Seattle-based F/V Destination

The ability of the Seattle-based Destination to stay afloat in the harsh conditions of a Bering Sea winter was seriously compromised before it set out on its final, fatal voyage, according to a Coast Guard report released Sunday that blamed the captain and the owner of the crab boat for failing to ensure safety. The Marine Board of Investigation detailed a series of missteps the Coast Guard found led to the deaths of all six crew on Feb. 11, 2017, just off the Bering Sea island of St. George. The panel also uncovered weaknesses in a safety-oversight system set up to prevent such fishing-industry disasters. Among the conclusions: >click to read<14:35

Heavy ice off East Coast 2017 caused by winds, cold temperatures, and icebergs

Heavy sea ice off Newfoundland and southern Labrador has been an issue for months: it brought record-breaking numbers of polar bear visitors onshore in early March and April and since then has hampered the efforts of fisherman to get out to sea. Let’s look back in time at how the ice built up, from early January to today, using ice maps and charts I’ve downloaded from the Canadian Ice Service and news reports published over the last few months. The tour is illuminating because it shows the development of the thick ice over time and shows how strong winds from a May storm combined with an extensive iceberg field contributed to the current situation. Bottom line: I can only conclude that climate change researcher David Barber was grandstanding today when he told the media that global warming is to blame for Newfoundland’s record thick sea ice conditions this year.  I suspect that because Barber’s expensive research expedition was scuttled, he simply had to find a way to garner media attention for his project — and the media obliged. click> Read to the end and decide for yourself.  11:07

Heavy ice, blocked markets blamed as Newfoundland seal hunt sees big drop

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Executive director Frank Pinhorn said Thursday just fewer than 55,000 harp seals were landed compared to 91,000 last year and 69,000 in 2012. The Fisheries and Oceans Canada website estimates the northwest Atlantic harp seal population at    Read more here 22:00