RIP
Alaskan Fishing Vessel Capsizes in Icy Strait, Five Missing
A search is under way for the crew of a commercial fishing vessel that capsized in frigid waters and severe weather off the coast of Couverden Island, Alaska.
At about 0010 hours on Sunday morning, Coast Guard Sector Southeast Alaska received a VHF mayday call from the crew of the fishing vessel Wind Walker. The crew reported that they were capsizing off Couverden Point, about 60 nautical miles south of Haines. The crew dropped out of contact, and no further responses were heard over VHF. Shortly after, the Coast Guard received an alert from the Wind Walker's EPIRB at a position in Icy Strait.
The Coast Guard did not get a definite count on the number of crewmembers aboard, but people who knew the vessel reported that there should have been five fisherman working on Wind Walker at the time. The count has not been confirmed.
Sector Southeast Alaska issued an urgent broadcast and dispatched a helicopter aircrew from Coast Guard Air Station Sitka, along with a response boat from Station Juneau to search the area.
The Alaska Marine Highway ferry Hubbard overheard the broadcast and diverted to assist, and she was the first on scene. In heavy snow and winds of up to 50 knots, the ferry and the Coast Guard responders began a search. Seven cold-water immersion suits and two strobe lights were located in the water in the search area, but no crewmembers.
Hubbard departed the search area midmorning and continued on her commercial voyage, according to AIS data provided by Pole Star. Coast Guard Cutter Healy arrived in the search area at about the same time, replacing Hubbard.
Search Called Off for Lost Seiner's Crew in Icy Strait
On Monday morning, the U.S. Coast Guard suspended its search for five missing crewmembers from the fishing vessel Wind Walker, which capsized south of Haines, Alaska in the early hours of Sunday morning. U.S. Coast Guard crews and good Samaritan vessels searched for nearly 24 hours in heavy snow and wind, and covered a search area of more than 100 square nautical miles without success.
"I am deeply grateful for the swiftness of our crews and other search assets who came together to amplify our efforts and completely saturate our search areas," said Chief Warrant Officer James Koon, a search and rescue mission coordinator at Coast Guard Sector Southeast Alaska. "Our collective hearts are with the friends and families who are experiencing the effects from this loss."
At 0007 hours on Sunday morning, Coast Guard Sector Southeast Alaska received a VHF mayday call from the crew of the 50-foot seiner Wind Walker. The crew reported that they were capsizing off Couverden Point, about 60 nautical miles south of Haines. The crew dropped out of contact, and no further responses were heard over VHF. Shortly after, the Coast Guard received an alert from the Wind Walker's EPIRB at a position in Icy Strait.
The Alaska Marine Highway ferry Hubbard overheard the mayday and was the first responder on scene, followed by the icebreaker USCGC Healy and the cutter USCGC Douglas Denman. They found seven survival suits - all empty - along with two strobe lights, but no signs of the missing crew. Weather on scene included 50-knot northerly winds and driving snow, presenting an extremely difficult situation for cold-water survival and for search operations.
The Coast Guard did not speculate on the cause of the casualty. The captain of the Hubbard reported freezing spray, and photos taken by the ferry's passengers suggest icing conditions in the area at the time of the casualty. Topside ice accumulation has claimed many Alaskan fishing vessels over the decades, most recently including the Scandies Rose and the F/V Destination.
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