Tag Archives: F/V Orin C
Fishing Community Mayor, Top Officials Off the Hook in Retaliation Claims
The mayor and other city officials in the fishing community of Gloucester, Massachusetts are protected under qualified immunity against claims by the city’s harbormaster that they violated his First Amendment rights. The harbormaster sued the mayor, city solicitor, chief administrative officer and human resources officer for allegedly violating his free speech rights when they retaliated against him because of expert witness testimony he gave as a private consultant. The First Circuit Court of Appeals said the officials are protected because as public officials they had reasonable concerns that the harbormaster’s testimony against a local boat captain would damage the city’s reputation and relations with the Gloucester fishing community. more, >>click to read<< 07:39
Appeals Court upholds dismissal of Gloucester Harbormaster’s harassment case
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit has affirmed a lower U.S. District Court judge’s ruling dismissing the intentional infliction of emotional distress, First Amendment retaliation and civil rights lawsuit brought by Gloucester Harbormaster Thomas “T.J.”, agreeing that city officials named in the suit were entitled to qualified immunity. In 2021, Ciarametaro, a Coast Guard veteran and reservist who has served as harbormaster since 2016, sued the city, then City Solicitor Charles “Chip” Payson, then Chief Administrative Officer James Destino, Human Resources Director Holly Dougwillo and then Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken. In his suit, Ciarametaro claimed the city officials had “violated his First Amendment rights because they retaliated against him for his expert testimony in a maritime tort dispute between several Gloucester fishermen and the United States Coast Guard,” according to the First Circuit’s decision dated Tuesday, Nov. 28. Photos, more, >>click to read<< 13:31
Harbormaster amends lawsuit – Mayor, admins accused of free speech, civil rights violations
Gloucester Harbormaster T.J. Ciarametaro’s attorneys have amended his lawsuit against Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken, members of her administration and the city, broadening the counts under which Ciarametaro seeks damages and providing more detail on some of his more explosive charges of a hostile workplace. The initial complaint, filed Feb. 9 in Essex Superior Court in Lawrence, charged that Romeo Theken and members of her administration harassed Ciarametaro and created a hostile work environment as retaliation for the harbormaster serving as a plaintiffs’ expert witness in a lawsuit involving the 2015 sinking of the fishing vessel F.V. Orin C. >click to read< 08:33
Judge restores Orin C deal, lawyer appeals
A federal judge last Friday ordered the parties in the wrongful death lawsuit tied to the 2015 sinking of the Orin C to adhere to a previous settlement agreement, halting the highly contentious case that was set to go to trial next month in Boston. But on Tuesday, Joseph Orlando Jr., attorney for the three plaintiffs, appealed the settlement order and dismissal by U.S. District Court Judge Patti B. Saris.,, The order by Saris and Orlando’s subsequent appeal are the most recent twists and turns in the case that has fixated the city’s waterfront amid accusations by Orlando that Gloucester Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken and others tampered with his expert witness, Gloucester Harbormaster T.J. Ciarametaro, by trying to pressure him to withdraw from the case or be fired from his harbormaster position. >click to read< 11:23
F/V Orin C Lawsuit – Lawyers say Samaritan, mayor threatened consultant
On Dec. 3, 2015, Capt. David “Heavy D” Sutherland died in the water after his disabled slime-eel boat, the Orin C, sank while under tow by the Coast Guard back into Gloucester Harbor. Now, an ongoing federal lawsuit filed by two surviving Orin C crew members and Sutherland’s estate has erupted with accusations of witness tampering involving Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken and fisherman Philip Powell of Swampscott, the good Samaritan who is a co-defendant in the case and whose vessel F/V Foxy Lady was the first to come to the aid of the Orin C. The witness is Gloucester Harbormaster T.J. Ciarametaro, who through his Five Fathoms Consulting firm, is retained as an expert witness by plaintiffs’ attorney, Joseph M. Orlando Jr. of the Gloucester firm Orlando & Associates. Orlando’s motion also accuses Gloucester lobsterman Arthur “Sooky” Sawyer, the current president of the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association, of contributing to a pressure campaign against Ciarametaro, a Coast Guard veteran. >click to read< 08:05
Bad hull, flooding led to fatal sinking of Orin C
The deadly sinking of the Gloucester-ported Orin C nearly 15 months ago probably was caused by structural problems with the vessel’s wooden hull and subsequent flooding, according to reports from the National Transportation Safety Board and Coast Guard released Thursday. The two reports detailed the marine tragedy that resulted in the drowning of 47-year-old Capt. David C. “Heavy D” Sutherland during the final stages of the Coast Guard’s rescue that saved crewmembers Rick Palmer and Travis Lane on the night of Dec. 3, 2015. Neither Palmer nor Lane could be reached Thursday for comment. The Coast Guard report did not recommend any changes to its training, rescue procedures or the equipping of its rescue vessels. That, however, does not mean it won’t make changes in the future, according to District 1 Deputy Commander Brad Kelly. “That is something the Coast Guard is always looking at in trying to determine what should be included into all of our rescue platforms,” Kelly said. “That is an ongoing process.” Continue reading the article here 21:01
As anniversary nears, reports on deadly F/V Orin C sinking unfinished
Saturday will mark the one-year anniversary of the sinking of the Orin C and the death of Gloucester fisherman David “Heavy D” Sutherland, but the final federal reports on the deadly incident still will not be released until January. Representatives of the Coast Guard and the National Transportation Safety Board on Monday confirmed the new timetable for releasing the findings of the separate investigations and restated the government’s intention to release the reports simultaneously. “We were really pushing to have a completed report before the anniversary of the tragedy to help bring some closure up here,” said Lt. Karen Kutiewicz of the Coast Guard’s District 1 Headquarters in Boston. “That was our goal. Unfortunately, it’s not the reality.”The draft of the Coast Guard’s internal casualty investigation was completed earlier this year and forwarded during the summer to Washington, D.C., for review by officials at Coast Guard headquarters. In July, the NTSB said it expected to release the conclusions of its investigation “sometime in the fall.” An NTSB spokesman on Monday said the agency has not yet concluded its investigation and does not expect to have the final report until mid-January. Read the story here 09:01
Coast Guard completes F/V Orin C investigation – Draft report of rescue under review
The U.S. Coast Guard is getting closer to finalizing its casualty investigation into December’s sinking of the Orin C and the drowning death of owner and Captain David “Heavy D” Sutherland during the rescue attempt that saved two crew members. A draft of the Coast Guard’s internal investigation has been completed at the Coast Guard’s District 1 Headquarters in Boston and now is under review at Coast Guard headquarters in Washington D.C., according to Lt. Karen Kutkiewicz, a public affairs officer for the service. “I have no definite timeline on when (the Coast Guard) will publish the final findings, nor where they are in the review process,” Kutkiewicz said in an email response to the Gloucester Daily Times. “The findings will be made public once finalized by Coast Guard headquarters.” The National Transportation Safety Board also is investigating the sinking of the Orin C on Dec. 3, 2015, about 12 miles off Thacher Island. The incapacitated 51-foot slime-eel fishing boat was being towed back to Gloucester Harbor through worsening seas, first by a Good Samaritan fisherman and later by the Coast Guard. Read the rest here 09:46
Fatal Gloucester rescue could change policies
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As dusk settled Dec. 3 on stormy seas 18 miles off Cape Ann, the crew of the Orin C felt a wave of relief. The Coast Guard had just arrived to tow them home to Gloucester, where they could unload 10,000 pounds of slime eel and repair their overheated engine. But three hours later, the relatively routine tow took a tragic turn. The 51-foot Orin C rapidly succumbed to 12-foot seas, leaving three men bobbing in the dark, 49-degree waters amid a blizzard of heavy debris. Crewmen Rick Palmer and Travis Lane swam to safety, but the Coast Guard later said Captain David “Heavy D” Sutherland could not be revived after a rescue swimmer reached him. Read the article here 22:28
NTSB: No plans to salvage Fishing Vessel Orin C
The National Transportation Safety Board confirmed today it will lead the investigation into last week’s sinking of the Orin C that cost the life of a Gloucester fisherman, but the agency has no plans to salvage the 51-foot vessel from the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. Keith Holloway, an NTSB spokesman, said the investigation could take as long as 12 to 18 months to determine the probable cause of the Dec. 3 sinking that took the life of 47-year-old Gloucester fisherman David “Heavy D” Sutherland. “Information will be released as it becomes available,”,, Read the article here 12:05
Calling hour’s, and a Celebration of Life for David “Heavy D” Sutherland in Gloucester
David R. “Heavy D” Sutherland, 47, of Gloucester passed away suddenly when his fishing vessel became distressed in an ocean storm. He was the loving companion to Susie Byrd with whom he shared 8 years of companionship. He was a hard- working, beloved fisherman in the Gloucester Community for many years and was the Captain of the Fishing Vessel Orin C. He began his love for fishing and catching lobster many years ago on the Saugus River. Read the details here, In lieu of flowers donations in David’s memory may be made to the Sutherland Children’s Fund c/o TD Bank 2 Harbor Loop Gloucester, MA 01930. 09:32
‘We don’t leave our friends behind’
The story is as chilling as it is all too familiar here in America’s oldest fishing village, where for centuries fishermen, in pursuit of the ocean’s bounty, have fallen prey to nature’s full force and elements that inexorably overwhelm all that is human. On Thursday, in the rushing darkness of a winter twilight, the three-man crew of the 51-foot Orin C went into the water and only two emerged safely onto the deck of the U.S. Coast Guard’s 47-foot lifesaving boat out of Station Gloucester. David Sutherland, 47, of 10 Montvale Ave. — known to all along the waterfront as Heavy D — died in the water as the Coast Guard tried to rescue him after his slime eel boat sunk about 12 miles off Thacher Island. Read the article here 07:40
One Fisherman is dead, two are rescued after Gloucester fishing vessel Orin C sinks
The Coast Guard rescued two fishermen and recovered a third deceased Thursday after their fishing boat sank 12 miles off Thatcher Island, Gloucester. A good Samaritan aboard the Foxy Lady notified watchstanders at the Coast Guard Sector Boston command center at about 3 p.m. that the fishing boat Orin C was disabled and needed a tow. The Foxy Lady began towing Orin C toward shore, but high wind and waves impeded their effort. A large wave reportedly crashed over Orin C’s bow, causing the boat to flood. Read the rest here 08:45
The Orin C at the Gloucester Railways in Rocky Neck.
A good portion of her keel was torn off earlier this week when she struck the rocks by Ten Pound island. Un-confirmed reports has it that vessel operator Dave (Heavy D.) Southerland was leaving the harbor on auto-pilot and left the wheel for a moment when an error caused the vessel to stray from the channel. There was some mild propeller damage that may or may not have been caused during the incident. 12:54:13
