Tag Archives: F/V Starbound
Hundreds gather to remember those lost at sea
More than 200 people, many family and friends of fishermen who died at sea, listened to the stories of two men who each lost their brothers aboard the trawler Starbound over two decades ago, during the 2023 Fishermen’s Memorial Service along Stacy Boulevard on Saturday afternoon. They reminisced about fishermen who never returned in recent memory and those who died at sea during Gloucester’s 400-year history. Under increasingly cloudy skies against the backdrop of the Outer Harbor, those gathered around the the Man at the Wheel statute of the Fishermen’s Memorial listened to speakers paying tribute to the thousands of men whose names are on the cenotaph. 5 photos, >click to read< 14:15
Light shows to honor Gloucester fishermen’s wives
Twenty years ago on the morning of Aug. 5, Angela Sanfilippo, president of the Gloucester Fishermen’s Wives Association, was attending to the final details of the public dedication celebration of the 12-foot Gloucester Fishermen’s Wives Memorial on Stacy Boulevard along Gloucester’s historic harbor. Her joy would soon turn to utter despair. “We had a wonderful event planned but it was very painful because we lost a boat that day,” she recalled. Early that morning, the Gloucester fishing vessel Starbound was struck by a freighter; one crewman survived and three died at sea. “It wasn’t easy that day but we carried on and we wanted to acknowledge the pain of the widows. As women in the fishing industry, we carry on to help with the needs of fishermen, their families and the community. That comes with the title of being a fisherman’s wife,” >click to read< 07:50
Trawl fishing in the age of the coronavirus: First, you make it through quarantine
Hundreds of crew members went through two weeks of shore-side quarantine coupled with testing for the novel coronavirus that did identify a few who, if they had gone out to sea, risked sickness and spreading the virus. “There’s no silver bullet. But this is a huge deal,” said Karl Bratvold, a managing partner of Aleutian Spray Fisheries, which operates the catcher-processor vessel Starbound now harvesting whiting in open waters off the Olympic Peninsula. “We have a steady crew. And I’m glad they came back. They work in tight quarters and it’s scary out there. We had to do what we had to do to keep these people safe.” photos, >click to read< 13:27
Fifteen Years Ago Lives Were Lost Aboard The Starbound- My Cousin Joe Marcantonio Speaks Out About The Events Which Took Place That Night
The Starbound sank 130 miles off Cape Ann August 5th, 2001. It was six months after that fateful night fifteen years ago today when my cousin Joe Marcantonio sat down at his computer and wrote down exactly what happened the night his herring boat was run down by the oil tanker Virgo and his three crewmembers were lost to the sea. Joe trusted me and our platform GoodMorningGloucester to tell the story that had been locked away and never been told to anyone for years. He wrote this account of the events that led up to the sinking of his boat so that his family and the families of his crewmembers would know exactly what happened. The sinking of Joe’s boat the Starbound happend 23 years after Joe had lost his own father to the sea in the sinking of the Gloucester Dragger the F/V Captain Cosmo. The entire crew including Joe’s father Captain Cosmo Marcantonio were lost at sea in September of 1978. 23 years later- ten years ago Joe would recount the events and what was racing through his mind. Joe writes-,,, Click here to read this great article here 12:47
Aleutian Spray extends Starbound to produce high grade surimi, fishmeal, fish oil
Partially in response to a weak pollock market, US-based Aleutian Spray Fisheries has decided to add a 60-foot midsection to its pollock factory trawler Starbound for a new fishmeal and fish oil plant as part of its plans to diversify production.The company had been planning to add 40 feet to the vessel in order to produce fishmeal when fishmeal prices began to rise, but the poor pollock market pushed the company to add an extra 20 feet to its originally planned midsection, as well as expand its ability to produce higher grade surimi. Read the article here 15:25
