Tag Archives: F/V Alaska Juris
A leaking pipe may have started Alaska Juris demise
Flashlight in hand, a stunned Chief Engineer Eddie Hernandez peered into the darkness to survey the swamped engine room of the Alaska Juris. The cold seawater was waist-deep, and more was bubbling up from a leak, possibly from a busted pipe on the starboard side of the factory trawler. “I wasn’t afraid or anything. I just felt helpless,” Hernandez was a key witness for Coast Guard officials seeking to unravel the mystery of the Alaska Juris’ demise on a calm, summer day. Officials also are investigating the tangled operations of the vessel’s owner, Fishing Company of Alaska, which teams with a Japanese fish buyer and still operates three factory trawlers whose large crews in remote North Pacific locations net, process and freeze the catch. The hearings offered a gritty look at conditions aboard the vessel, which had benefitted from millions of dollars in investments in maintenance — yet still appeared so unsafe, one engineer said, that he quit this year after spending just a day at port. “The biggest thing that was bugging me was that if I take this job, I’m going to have to lie to my wife and kids about the condition of this boat,” said Carl Lee Jones Read the story here 22:34
Accusations fly at hearing into Alaska Juris sinking
A Coast Guard hearing into the July sinking of the Alaska Juris took a volatile turn on Thursday as a marine contractor once charged with shore repairs alleged that misconduct by some Japanese crew contributed to safety problems. Herb Roeser, owner of Seattle-based Trans-Marine Propulsion Systems, alleged in his testimony that Masashi Yamada, a Japanese entrepreneur with wide-ranging business holdings, wielded behind-the-scenes control of the factory ship’s owner, Renton-based Fishing Company of Alaska. Roeser said Japanese crews working for one of Yamada’s businesses, Anyo Fisheries, “basically ran” the Alaska Juris. Over the years, Roeser said, the Alaska Juris had been weakened by not only age but also improper modifications ordered by Japanese crew and their rough fishing tactics that slammed metal trawl gear — known as doors — against the stern of the vessel and contributed to cracks. Roeser testified that when he stopped working for the company in 2011, he told the U.S. owner, the late Karena Adler, that “you need to put that ship in the scrap yard because nothing good is going to come of it.” Read the rest here 16:11
Mystery surrounds alarm failure on sunken Alaska Juris, a siren that could “wake the dead”
When water first began flooding into the Alaska Juris on July 26, a network of bilge alarms should have unleashed a cacophony of sound to alert the crew that something was wrong. “The siren can wake the dead. Anywhere on the vessel you can hear the alarm,” said Ben Eche, an electrician who did shore-side work on that alert system, in testimony Tuesday during Coast Guard hearings in Seattle into the sinking of the vessel. All 46 crew members survived. But crew testified the alarm did not go off, a troubling development that prompted Coast Guard officials to question Eche about how the system operated. Eche said he had tested the alarm system while the Alaska Juris was in port, and it worked properly. Read the story here, and watch the proceedings here 11:36
Crewman tells of harrowing escape from sinking Alaska Juris
The evacuation and rescue of the crew of 46 from the sinking Alaska Juris was accomplished without any deaths or serious injuries. But crewman Aaron Hell experienced tense moments as he briefly fell into the chill Bering Sea while trying to climb down a ladder along the side of the sinking vessel and board a life raft. During afternoon testimony, Hell described a multinational crew aboard the Alaska Juris that included Japanese, Mexicans and recruits from African nations. He said they all had to find a way to work together to enable operation of the Alaska Juris, an aging vessel built in the 1970s that motors off to remote locations to catch, process and freeze fish. Read the story here 08:27
Coast Guard Investigation Hearing, F/V Alaska Juris – Listen Live!
The U.S. Coast Guard on Monday kicked off a public hearing on its investigation into the abandoning and sinking of the fishing vessel Alaska Juris off the coast of Alaska earlier this year. The 10-day Formal Marine Investigation is open to the public and is taking place at the Henry Jackson Federal Building in Seattle, Washington. The intent of the hearing is to interview witnesses and gather information about the cause of the sinking of the fishing/processor vessel Alaska Juris in the Bering Sea on July 26, 2016. The vessel is believed to have sank in approximately 5,400 feet of water after the crew abandoned ship about 690 miles west of Dutch Harbor Alaska. Listen to Live Proceedings here 18:19
Formal Coast Guard investigation of F/V Alaska Juris sinking begins on Monday
A public Formal Marine Investigation will take place next week in Seattle to look into the sinking of the fishing vessel Alaska Juris in July. The formal investigation is being held by the Seventeenth Coast Guard District commander. It will begin Monday, Dec. 5, at 12:30 p.m. at the Henry Jackson Federal Building in Seattle. It will last until 4:30 p.m. and is expected to continue through Friday, December 16. The Alaska Juris, a 220-foot-long factory trawler, went down in the Bering Sea nearly 700 miles west of Dutch Harbor. It started taking on water on July 26. Forty six crew members and fishery observers were rescued from life rafts by Good Samaritan vessels. The boat was owned by The Fishing Company of Alaska, based in Renton, Washington. Read the rest here 08:05
Coast Guard still investigating F/V Alaska Juris sinking
It’s been four months since the F/V Alaska Juris sank in the Bering Sea, and the U.S. Coast Guard is still trying to figure out why its engine room flooded, forcing 46 crew-members to abandon ship near Kiska Island. Lt. Rven Garcia leads the investigations division for Coast Guard Sector Anchorage. He said investigators have scheduled two weeks of public hearings in Seattle to determine why the 220-foot trawler went down. “Since the sinking, the investigation team has identified witnesses and developed theories as to what caused it,” Garcia said. “So the hearing is a kind of public forum to interview those witnesses and fully explore those theories.” Those theories and the names of the witnesses won’t be made public until the hearings in December. But Garcia said there’s a reason the interviews are happening in Seattle. “That’s where the vessel was home-ported, the owners are home-ported there, and a lot of the crew-members are from Seattle,” Garcia said. Read the rest here 13:08
Officials are calling off the search for the fishing vessel Alaska Juris.
The U.S. Coast Guard released a statement Saturday saying it’s believed that the ship sank in approximately 5,400 feet of water. A problem in the engine room Tuesday led to flooding on board the Alaska Juris, forcing the crew to abandon ship. All 46 crew members were rescued by good Samaritan ships, and there were no injuries. The Coast Guard, the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, and the Fishing Company of Alaska coordinated a search of the area northwest of Adak, Alaska, where the fishing vessel Alaska Juris was last seen. There was no sign of the ship. Unrecoverable diesel sheen was located in the search area believed to be from the Alaska Juris. The cause of the fishing vessel Alaska Juris sinking is under investigation. Link 03:15
No sign of abandoned trawler Alaska Juris in Bering Sea recovery effort
A tug is searching an area of the Bering Sea for an abandoned fishing vessel, which was still afloat Tuesday after its crew of 46 abandoned ship, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. Coast Guard Petty Officer John-Paul Rios said the 229-foot Alaska Juris hasn’t been seen by crew members of the tug Resolve Pioneer, which was contracted to retrieve the trawler. The tugboat reached the area, about 150 miles northwest of Adak, on Thursday evening but found only poor weather conditions. “Obviously, due to the weather and the heavy fog, there wasn’t that much they could do,” Rios said. The Alaska Juris has been unoccupied since Tuesday morning, when crew members reported flooding in the vessel’s engine room, donned survival suits and departed the ship in a trio of life-rafts. Four merchant ships helped rescue the crew. Read the rest here 10:32
Recovery plan underway for fishing vessel abandoned by crew of 46
A fishing vessel abandoned by its crew of 46 in the Bering Sea when it took on water Tuesday remained afloat Wednesday morning as plans were made for a possible recovery, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. Lt. Joseph Schlosser, a command duty officer with the Coast Guard’s District 17 command center, said the Alaska Juris remained in the same area where it was abandoned at about noon Tuesday, more than 150 miles northwest of Adak in Alaska’s western Aleutian Islands. “She’s floating down by the bow, with a 5-degree list to port,” Schlosser said. The crew of the Alaska Juris reported flooding in the engine room Tuesday, then donned survival suits and left the ship in three rafts. Schlosser said a private company, Resolve Marine Group, has been contracted to recover the 229-foot trawler. The tugboat Resolve Pioneer is en route to the scene but not expected to arrive until Thursday. Read the story here 12:30
Video release: Coast Guard, good Samaritans rescue 46 mariners 690 miles west of Dutch Harbor, Alaska
Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak aircrews, along with good Samaritans, rescue 46 crew members from life rafts after they abandoned ship approximately 690 miles west of Dutch Harbor, Alaska, July 26, 2016. The 220-foot fishing vessel Alaska Juris began taking on water near Kiska Island. All 46 crew members were transferred to good Samaritan vessels Spar Canis and Vienna Express to be transported to Adak, Alaska. Click on photo. 07:20
46 Crew members abandon sinking Fishing Vessel in Alaskan Waters
Two Good Samaritan ships were helping rescue 46 crew members who abandoned a sinking fishing vessel in Alaska’s Aleutian Island chain, Coast Guard officials said Tuesday. There were no reported injuries to the crew members, who had donned survival suits and then huddled in three large life rafts awaiting rescue after the 220-foot Alaska Juris started taking on water late Tuesday morning. The plan was to have the 46 people transfer to the Good Samaritan ships, the Spar Canis and the Vienna Express, Petty Officer Lauren Steenson said. The crew would be transported to a port, but she said it wasn’t immediately known where they would be taken. The Coast Guard also diverted the cutter Midgett and dispatched two C-130 transport planes and two helicopters from Kodiak to the site of the sinking ship, located near Kiska Island, which is about 690 miles west of Dutch Harbor, one of the nation’s busiest fishing ports. Read the story here 23:14
Coast Guard responds to ammonia leak, exposed crewmembers 80 miles north of Cold Bay
A Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak HC-130 Hercules airplane, MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter and an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter deployed on the Kodiak-based Coast Guard Cutter Munro are responding to a distressed vessel. Coast Guard personnel are responding to reports of an ammonia leak and crewmembers suffering from ammonia exposure on the fishing vessel Alaska Juris 80 miles north of Cold Bay Thursday. Read the rest here 17:34
A fight on the F/V Alaska Juris landed one crew member in the hospital with knife wounds, and another behind bars
According to preliminary police reports, 47-year-old Wayland Smith and his coworker had a disagreement aboard the Alaska Juris on Thursday night. The 238-foot catcher-processer was anchored in Captains Bay to offload seafood to a tramper. Public safety director Jamie Sunderland says the two men took their fight up to the ship’s deck. It escalated from there. more@kucb 09:06
F/V Alaska Juris Fisherman Medevaced near Cold Bay, Alaska
The Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak MH-60 Jayhawk
crew rendezvoused with the Alaska Juris approximately 110 miles north of Cold Bay, safely hoisted the man aboard the helicopter and transported him to awaiting emergency medical services in Cold Bay for further care. more@uscgnews 10:57
Coast Guard medevacs man from F/V Alaska Juris near Dutch Harbor, Alaska
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Crews from the Coast Guard Cutter Boutwell and Air Station Kodiak medevaced an inju
red man from the F/V Alaska Juris near Dutch Harbor Friday. [email protected] The Alaska Juris is a 238-foot factory operated by the Fishing Company of Alaska
