Crew members say Japanese fish masters working aboard the sunken Alaska Ranger and other Fish Company of Alaska vessels assaulted fishermen and were involved in other misconduct, increasing the risk in an already dangerous job. Above, the Alaska Ranger — pictured years ago — drops trawl nets. The trawler sank March 23, 2008. Five of the 47 crew died. COURTESY OF ERIC HAYNES
The Seattle Times is reporting:
Japanese fish master Satoshi Konno was a tall man with ramrod posture and a volcanic temper. He erupted one summer day in 1994 aboard a Seattle-based trawler as a young American crewman accidentally slipped a bag of frozen fish into the wrong hold.
Konno walked up behind the crewman and, without warning, shoved him face-first onto the deck. When the crewman protested, Konno "went ballistic on me, and started screaming: 'You are nothing. If I want you off the boat, you're off the boat,' " Clayton Putnam recalled.
The complete Seattle Times post is here.
2 comments:
Doesn't it look like the boat is going up a massive wave? picture is strangely disorienting
Down in the oil patch of the GOM, OSV's like the Ranger was before it was converted, have a bad history of sinking "incidents".
As the surviving crew testified, the steering room flooded and continued to flood into the engine room thru non-tight cableways and other openings after the door to the rudder room passageway was closed. This is exactly what happens to the boats in the Gulf when you've been loaded heavuly with pipe and casing and submerge the rudder stock glands below the waterline. These glands were not made to be watertight, are not capable of being made so, and you will find yourself pumping the plave out endlessly until the deck has been unloaded and your glands are back above the waterline. If you miss a turn at the pump, or just forget because you're busy, you'll find yourself in deep water. The only difference between the GOM and the waters in Alaska is that's it's a lot deeper
up here. The skippers in the GOM all are aware of the problems in their boats and are prepared to run them up on a sandbar or into shallow water, which is never very far away down there to keep them from submerging and being lost. After one of these groundings, the boat will be pumped out, pulled off, and put back in service. And yes, of course the Coasties know what's going on down there. They're so used to seeing these boats flooded and aground that they don't even investigate these incidents any more. Probably too busy chasing terrorists or keeping oil tanker crews off their docks.
Basically, OSV's & fishboats all go down for the same reasons,
flawed construction (unsealed holes in bulkheads and decks), and design flaws (the non-watertight rudder glands in this case). Sure, other things figure into this, overworked crews, overloaded boats, bad weather, ice and any thing esle you care to add. But, the Ranger could have floated and returned to port with a flooded steering room after the door was shut had the bulkhead been tight. The issue of the Fish Master driving her too hard in ice is a Red Herring. One can sink these things in the GOM by flooding thru the rudder glands and leaving the doors open. That's all it takes to have to put her up on a shallow spot. You don't have to knock the rudder out of the boat to do it.
BTW, You Crab Boat folks have got issues with design flaws and flawed construction too, causing yuor boats to submerge and be lost too. You House Forward boat people need to check your rear engine room bulkheads along your shaft lines, entering into the tunnel. This blkhd is supposed to be tight, the shaft sealed with a bulkhead gland. A bunch of you told me your stories about "the night/morning the boat tried to sink" up in King Cove some time back. NONE of you had glands or were tightly built. Of course you had nearly sunk. You were all incredibly lucky to be alive. When I met the USCG at the next Fish Expo later on, the good Captain I tried to speak with ended our brief conversation with an airiy hand wave, saying jovially "we're going to fix all that." When I told this to the REAL Feds, 6 years ago, they waited a couple of years and then let Marco, who built most of your boats, close and go abruptly out of business with no explanation. I thought this was too bad, for Marco had the yard and specialty knowledge needed to install your shaft glands and close up your bulkheads. The Feds probably had legal advice on the matter. But, just go check along your shaft lines, OK?
You House Aft folks in your power scows have got issues here too. You folks flood out of your tunnels thru the partially dogged down fwd door into your engine rooms. Takes you right over and down if it continues. The young kids from the USCG voluntary inspections always rag on you all to "dog it all the way around". Of course you don't, they don't know how you work or what its like out there. I DO know what it's like and I won't tell you to fully dog it either.
What you need is the same sort of door equipment used on real ships. Remote Controlled Power Operated Sliding Water Tight Doors, Closed from a switch on the control console in the wheelhouse. You folks need at least one of these at the engine room entrance into the tunnel, maybe another at the other end of the tunnel going into the foc'sle. Maybe not, suit yourself. Read the instruction manual before you go out with it the first time, OK? You'll find examples of both the door equipment and the shaft blkhd glands on the Blue Canoe Tustumena, which runs the chain once a month from late April thru October.
In 40 some odd years of watching fish boats submerge and die with their crews up north, the only time I've ever seen any change came in 1988. That came about because the Mothers who had lost their sons, the Wives who had lost their husbands, and the Daughters who had lost their fathers and brothers went before Congress, cried on the tables before their Senators and Congressmen and DEMANDED that something be done to stop the loss of their men. Their tears turned the tide and something WAS done. Survival Suits, liferafts, EPIRB'S, radios, flares, lights were all mandated because of their tears. And, while the sinkings still continue, the presence of this eqpt made a real difference in this case, 43 of 47 came home because of it. But, the sinkings have NOT been stopped. Some day, you women will go back to Congress and cry again on the witness tables. When you go back again,ask for tight bulkheads and decks, ask for shaft glands, ask for real doors (Remote Controlled Power Operated Sliding Water tight doors), and then ask for the most important part of all; an Inspection Service that cann't be bought to certify properly prepared and fitted out vessels, and prevent the others from leaving port. Don't let them fob you off with a bunch of punk kids from the USCG, or a bunch of worn out retirees that never did the job when they were on active duty. Get a REAL inspection service. Let your tears flow again, for that is the only way to get them all home again.
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