Tag Archives: crew member James Lacey
A fishing boat captain and two deckhands died in a disastrous Oregon bar crossing. Could it have been prevented?
Joshua Porter got dressed for his job around 4 a.m. on Jan. 8, 2019, sat down at the end of the bed, buried his face in his hands and told his longtime partner he didn’t want to go. He was scared. A storm was brewing off the Oregon coast, where the Mary B II would be competing with dozens of other fishing boats in the first days of the Dungeness crab fishing season. In the handful of days he had worked on the Mary B II, Porter had become concerned. The 50-year-old captain, Stephen Biernacki, new to the Pacific Northwest’s waters, repeatedly refused advice from experienced sailors, had once ran his boat aground and seemed to be unfamiliar with the most elementary aspects of fishing for crab. “Well, why are you going?” Denise Barrett Ramirez, standing in the bedroom doorway of their Toledo home, asked him that morning. “Got bills to pay,” Porter replied. “I have to go.” more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 17:44
Coast Guard was escorting boat when it capsized off Oregon, killing 3 fishermen, 2 from New Jersey
The U.S. Coast Guard was escorting a commercial fishing vessel into an Oregon harbor under heavy seas when it capsized on Tuesday night, killing three fisherman, two of whom were from New Jersey. A 52-foot Motor Life Boat Victory went out to to meet the 42-foot Mary B II near the entrance to Yaquina Bay, the Cost Guard said in a statement. The fishing boat was under its own power in the stormy Pacific Ocean contending with waves of 14-to-16 feet when it capsized just after 10 p.m., officials said. >click to read<11:24
