Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Report on Katmai sinking could come out Friday

A U.S. Coast Guard spokesman tells Deckboss the investigative report into the sinking of the fishing vessel Katmai likely will be publicly released at an event Friday in Seattle.

The Katmai, you'll recall, sank with an 11-man crew and a load of cod in remote Aleutian waters west of Adak Island on Oct. 22, 2008.

Seven crewmen died while four others were rescued after a harrowing night on a wave-pummeled life raft.

Hal Bernton, a Seattle Times writer, wrote this article last week after obtaining an advance copy of the report, which authorities had sent to survivors and family members of the dead crewmen.

According to the article, the report appears to contain few if any surprises about what led to the boat's demise.

Those factors include an overloaded hold, flooding through an unsecured watertight door, and a poor decision to travel through rough weather, the article says.

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