Tag Archives: F/V Destination
Ludger Dochtermann of Kodiak – Reinstituting Reasonable Crab Pot Limits
Dear Board of Fisheries members: My name is Ludger Dochtermann of Kodiak, and I own two crab vessels, the F/V Northpoint and F/V Stormbird. Like all others in the fleet, we are deeply affected by the recent sinking of the F/V Destination off St. George Island and the loss of her entire crew. The Stormbird is also fishing out of St. George this season. It is obvious that icing played a large part in that sinking, and word is that the vessel had an excessive number of pots aboard at the time. Tarps were ripped off and found among the flotsam along with buoys and a life ring. The weather at the time made for severe conditions and risky business. It is challenging to parse between proposals, regulations, and policy, and just plain duty. The IFQ fisheries were instituted for privatization; and a federally imposed IFQ system came into being without NPFMC and U.S. Senate testimonies by vessel architects, load-line engineers, USCG safety officers, insurance experts and experienced captains discussing the specific concerns of safety. Continue reading the letter here 15:54
US Coast Guard convenes Marine Board of Investigation into loss of F/V Destination
WASHINGTON- The U.S. Coast Guard has convened a Marine Board of Investigation into the loss of F/V Destination and its six crewmembers. A Marine Board of Investigation is the highest level of investigation in the Coast Guard. Upon completion of the investigation, the Board will issue a report to the commandant with the evidence collected, the facts established and its conclusions and recommendations. During the course of the MBI, panel members must decide: The factors that contributed to the accident, Whether there is evidence that any act of misconduct, inattention to duty, negligence or willful violation of the law on the part of any licensed or certificated person contributed to the casualty. Whether there is evidence that any Coast Guard personnel or any representative or employee of any other government agency or any other person caused or contributed to the casualty National Transportation Safety Board is participating alongside the Coast Guard in its investigation, but will produce an independent report with its own findings. Link 15:45
Please Donate to the Larry O’Grady Family Fund
Please help our Auntie Gail during this devastating tragedy. On February 11, 2017, Gail received a phone call that would forever change her life. Her beloved husband and best friend “Larry O” is missing at sea. On Saturday morning the fishing vessel ‘Destination’ sent an emergency distress signal to the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard announced they would search for the missing vessel and crew members for 3 days. With heavy hearts, the Coast Guard has suspended the search for the crew of the fishing vessel Destination. This fund will go to our Auntie Gail to ease the financial burden that this tragedy has left her with. Thoughts and prayers to the owner, his crew members and their families. Visit the Larry O’Grady Family Fund page, (click here) and please donate any amount you can.
Please donate to the Charles Glenn Jones Family Relief Fund
Saturday, February 11th the wife of Charles Glenn Jones received a phone call that no family member ever wants to receive. The vessel, FV Destination, that Charles was working upon, and had been for many years, was considered missing. As minutes rolled into hours, and hours felt like an eternity all signs are pointing to no possible chance of survival. Coastguard Crews and volunteers have been searching for nearly 24 hours, the ship has been officially declared sunk, and no crew members are expected to have survived. As in all walks of life, Rosalie and her family believed they had time. Time to plan, time to love, and time together. Rosalie and Charles had decided when he returned from this trip that they would finally get a life insurance policy on him, just in case, unfortunately reality had other plans and the Jones family is left enduring much pain and anguish. Continue reading (Click here) at the Charles Glenn Jones Family Relief Fund page, and please donate any amount you can. 18:22
The Eli Seibold Destination Fund
Eli is the son of Darrik Seibold who is a crew member on board the Destination vessel that went missing in the Bering Sea Saturday. His family is devastated, the past few days have been unbearable for them and a heart breaking time for our community. So many people have asked how they can help during this very helpless time, so we have started a fund for Darrik’s son Eli. The fund will help ensure a brighter future for Eli, who will turn three this weekend without his father. By supporting Darrik’s son, we can help provide for his future now that his father is unable to do so. I would like to say thanks to all who have asked how to help Bill and Jan over the past few days, your messages have been forwarded to them. Click here for the Eli Seibold Destination Fund, and please give what you can. 12:12
‘These boys loved what they did’: Former crabber on missing Destination talks about lost boat, lost brother
Dylan Hatfield worked for six years aboard the Destination before leaving in 2014. He was tight with all of the crew, which included his older brother, Darrik Seibold, whom he had helped to get a job on the vessel. So last Thursday evening, Hatfield relished the chance for a brief reunion as he crossed paths with the Destination crew in the Aleutian Island port of Dutch Harbor. Hatfield had just ended his crab season aboard another Bering Sea vessel — the Kari Marie — while the crew of the Seattle-based Destination was about to depart to begin their later-winter harvest. He went down to the dock where the Destination was moored to greet the crew. Then, they all went out for pizza and beer, a night filled with hugs, laughs and tales of years past hauling in snow and king crab. Continue reading the story here 20:31
Deadliest Catch Captain Keith Colburn pays tribute to six fisherman lost in the Bering Sea
A Deadliest Catch star is paying tribute to six veteran fishermen lost in the icy Bering Sea after the U.S. Coast Guard called off the search for the men. The fishing vessel Destination went missing early Saturday after an emergency signal from a radio beacon registered to the ship originated from 2 miles off St. George, an island about 650 miles west of Kodiak Island. Castmember Capt. Keith Colburn said he knows their chances of surviving are slim and paid tribute to Hathaway and O’Grady, who he was close friends with for over 25 years. Family members of those missing identified the crew members as: Jeff Hathaway, Larry O’Grady, Charles Glenn Jones, Raymond Vincler, Darrik Seibold, and Kai Hamik. The news about the vessel going missing has stunned the tight-knit community that spawned the hit Discovery channel show ‘Deadliest Catch’. Colburn said he heard about the missing boat, which was not featured on the show, from colleague Sig Hansen, who is the captain on The Northwestern on reality television show which is about crab and fishing boat crews working on the Bering Sea. Photo’s, Read the story here 18:43
Prayers, messages for crew of missing Seattle fishing boat in Alaska
U.S. Coast Guard crews suspended the search Monday evening for a Seattle-based fishing vessel missing in Alaska’s Bering Sea since Saturday. On Tuesday, the owners of the Destination shared the following message: The owners of the DESTINATION understand that the Coast Guard has suspended its search for the DESTINATION and her crew. We thank the Coast Guard, all of the Good Samaritan vessels, and people of St. George Island who worked so long and hard to try to find our crew. These efforts were in the finest tradition of the sea. These men were professionals. Our hearts are broken for their loved ones who are now left with the certainty of this tragic sinking. We will work with the Coast Guard to attempt to understand what occurred with the hope that whatever can be learned will be used to help prevent such an event from happening again. Please keep these men and their families in your prayers. While Coast Guard officials have not released the names of the crew, family members have confirmed to KING 5 three members: 46-year-old Charles Glenn Jones, 29-year-old Kai Hamik and 55-year-old Larry O’Grady. Video, read the article here 13:18
Chandler, Arizona man missing at sea; Coast Guard calls off search for 6 fishermen on crab boat
A Valley man is believed to be one of six people on board a missing fishing boat in the Bering Sea off of Alaska. Kai Hamik, of Chandler, is a commercial fisherman who neighbors say loves his job. “I see him off and on, depending on the season,” said Gabriel D’Zordo, who lives right next door to Hamik. “Sometimes he tells me the season is bad so he comes back early. He loves it. He loves it. He always tells me he loves it.” The U.S. Coast Guard in Alaska said the crew sent out a beacon alert 2 miles northwest of St. George, Alaska, on Saturday morning. The boat, a 98-foot crab boat named “Destination,” had six people on it and is owned by a company based in Seattle. D’Zordo had no idea Hamik might be lost at sea. He said he will stay hopeful. “My goodness, my prayers. Every time he goes out I always say a pray because I know what he does,” D’Zordo said. Read the story here 12:23
Update 3 and final: Coast Guard suspends search for fishing vessel near St. George, Alaska
The Coast Guard has suspended the search for the crew of the fishing vessel Destination northwest of St. George, Alaska, Monday afternoon. Watchstanders from Coast Guard 17th District received an Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon alert from F/V Destination early Saturday morning and deployed the Kodiak aircrews to commence the search. The aircrews located a debris field in the general area of the EPIRB alert. Debris included the transmitting EPIRB, a life ring from the vessel, buoys, tarps and an oil sheen. The search continued through Saturday, Sunday and Monday. “We extend our deepest condolences to the family and friends of the six crewmembers during this extremely difficult time,” said Rear Adm. Michael McAllister, Coast Guard 17th District commander. “The decision to suspend a search is always difficult and is made with great care and consideration.” The watchstanders at the 17th District Command Center in Juneau coordinated 21 searches, totaling more than 69 aircraft and surface hours and covering approximately 5,730 square nautical miles. Read the rest here 08:02
Extensive searches turn up no new sign of missing Bering Sea crab boat or crew
The search is still on for a crabbing vessel and its six crew members missing for nearly three days in the brutal waters of the Bering Sea, the U.S. Coast Guard said Monday afternoon. The fishing vessel Destination, a Seattle-owned, Sand Point-based ship with a reputation as a “battle ax” and a crew of veteran Bering Sea fishermen, was on its way to start the snow crab season when its emergency locator beacon activated at 6:11 a.m. Saturday. As of Monday, the boat has not been declared sunk and the men aboard are still considered missing. Search crews had combed an area of 5,073 square nautical miles, following currents southwest of the spot where the only sign of the boat was found, 2 miles off the northwest tip of St. George Island, according to Petty Officer 3rd Class Lauren Steenson. Some of the crew members have already been publicly identified by family members. Read the story here 23:30
Search continues for Bering Sea fishing vessel missing with 6 aboard
Despite two days of searching, there was still no sign Sunday night of the Bering Sea crab boat or its six crew members that went missing just off St. George Island Saturday. The Destination, a 95-foot fishing vessel based in Seattle but operated mostly out of Sand Point, was on its way from Dutch Harbor to St. Paul Island for the start of the opilio crab fishery when the ship’s emergency beacon activated at 6:11 a.m. Saturday, said Michael Barcott, an Anchorage maritime attorney who is acting as a spokesperson for the ship’s ownership group. On Saturday, a Coast Guard search and rescue crew found the emergency beacon, a life ring, buoys and tarps in a small oil sheen on the water about 2 miles northwest of St. George Island. “The crew had sailed right by St. George within a half-hour of when the beacon activated,” Barcott said. Dylan Hatfield, a fisherman from Petersburg who has been working out of Dutch Harbor this winter, said his brother was aboard the Destination when it went missing. Hatfield did not want to identify his brother or any of the other crew members on the Destination by name on Sunday. The ship itself was a meticulously maintained “battle ax,” said Hatfield, who worked for six years aboard the Destination himself. Continue reading the story here 11:29
Wife identifies crew member aboard missing Seattle-based fishing boat
A crew member aboard a missing Seattle-based fishing boat has been identified. Coast Guard crews in Alaska are searching for the fishing vessel Destination, a 98-foot crab boat from the Port of Seattle last heard from near St. George, Alaska. Gail O’Grady says her husband, Larry O’Grady, has been fishing on the Destination for the past 20 years, and that he’s been fishing in Alaska for close to 30 years. She says Larry served as the boat’s engineer and fill-in captain. She and her husband live in Poulsbo. The last time she saw him was in December. Gail, as well as other fisherman and loved ones who knew Larry and the rest of the crew, say they were exceptionally experienced. Video, Read the story here, and pray for these men tonight 22:11
Search continues for Fishing Vessel Destination
On February 11, the 98 foot long fishing vessel Destination was reported missing and presumed lost in the Bering Sea northwest of St. George Island, Alaska. The Coast Guard received an automated EPIRB signal (Emergency Position-Indicating Radio Beacon) from the fishing vessel around 7:15 a.m. Saturday morning The Coast Guard dispatched helicopters and directed two nearby vessels to search for the Destination. Citizens on St. George Island began searching the shoreline for possible survivors or any signs of the fishing vessel. By 10 a.m. the beacon was found in a debris field that included a buoy and life ring that had the fishing vessel’s name on it. An oil sheen was visible in the water indicating the vessel may have foundered in the vicinity. The Coast Guard confirmed there were six crew on board when the vessel departed from Seattle. Continue reading here 11:52
More information – Seattle-based crab boat, crew of six, reported missing at sea Click here to read 16:57
Coast Guard searching for fishing vessel near St. George, Alaska
A U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak HC-130 Hercules airplane crew and two MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crews are responding to an electronic position indicating radio beacon alert from fishing vessel Destination approximately two miles northwest of St. George, Alaska, Saturday. Coast Guard 17th District watchstanders in Juneau received the alert this morning and launched the aircraft crews. Six people were aboard the vessel, which is based in Seattle and often moors at Sand Point, said Petty Officer 3rd Class Lauren Steenson, U.S. Coast Guard 17th District Alaska. Sand Point is a community of about 975 people in the Aleutians East Borough.The HC-130 Hercules crew arrived on scene to commence search patterns at approximately 10:13 a.m. Two MH-60 Jayhawk crews arrived early Saturday afternoon to assist with the search. Two good Samaritan vessels, fishing vessels Silver Spray and Bering Rose, are assisting with the search. Citizens in St. George have assembled a search party to patrol the shoreline for any signs of the crew or vessel. The EPIRB has been recovered among a debris field containing buoys, a life ring from fishing vessel Destination and an oil sheen. “We are saturating the area with Coast Guard and good Samaritan assets and hoping for the best,” said Chief Petty Officer Joshua Ryan, Coast Guard 17th District watchstander. Weather on scene is reported as 30-mph winds, five to eight-foot seas and snowing. Air temperature is 20 degrees and sea temperature is 30 degrees. Link 22:36
