Tag Archives: Arthur Ganacias
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
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<
Seattle memorial held for crew member lost in sinking of F/V Scandies Rose
Tony Ganacias introduced his son to the sea when he was working at a cannery near Cold Bay in Alaska, and bought him his first boat at age 17. That was it, Ganacias said. From then on for Arthur it was nothing but boats and fishing and cars, including his beloved 1971 Dodge Charger. On Saturday afternoon, Arthur Ganacias, known to most everyone as “Art,” was remembered by his father and other family and friends just a little more than a month after he and four other crew were lost when the Scandies Rose went down in 20-foot seas in the Gulf of Alaska. Ganacias, 50, was the boat’s engineer. photo gallery >click to read< 06:44
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
In Alaska, commercial fishing remains dangerous despite increased safety measures
Commercial fishing was once the most dangerous job in the country, (Scott Wilwert said, and during the 1970s and 1980s an increase in accidents and deaths ultimately led to the passage of the Commercial Fishing Industry Vessel Safety Act of 1988. The regulations required boats to have survival suits and life rafts and to carry out onboard safety drills, among other safety measures.,, “There was a time in the ’70s and ’80s where, I think, even the fishermen would tell you that there was a mentality, that ‘you have to go out but you don’t have to come back’ kind of thing,” Wilwert said. “That just doesn’t exist, nobody thinks that way anymore.” >click to read< 07:29
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: Survivor Dean Gribble Jr. describes 20-foot seas,”worst possible conditions.”- Calls to loved ones reveal rough conditions before sinking
In a YouTube video, Dean Gribble Jr. explains the people on board the Dutch Harbor-based vessel – with business operations out of Seattle – went “from sleeping to swimming” in about 10 minutes when the vessel began to capsize. “It happened really fast,” Gribble Jr. said. The video from Gribble Jr. can be seen in its entirety >click here< ,, Gribble Jr. says he and John Lawler were in a life raft for “five hours or so” before being rescued by a Jayhawk helicopter. They were wearing survival suits. >click to read< 14:18
Calls to loved ones reveal rough conditions before sinking – The 130-foot (40-meter) Scandies Rose was traveling in an area with warnings about strong winds and heavy freezing spray, said Louise Fode, a warning coordination meteorologist with the National Weather Service. >click to read< 14:39
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
