September 15, 2010
Wednesday

A boarding team from the Ketchikan-based Coast Guard Cutter Acushnet terminated the voyage of two commercial fishing vessels for safety violations during a boarding in the Gulf of Alaska Monday escorting them to King Cove.

The fishing vessel Terri Lynn was transiting from Bristol Bay to Sand Point when the vessel's voyage was terminated by the Coast Guard boarding team due to the high water alarm system not working and the fire extinguishing equipment being inadequate for the vessel of that size. The vessel also had an expired EPIRB, expired NOAA registration, a non-serviceable life ring buoy and had no sound producing device aboard for low visibility weather conditions.

The fishing vessel St. Francis was participating in the state Pacific Cod fishery when the vessel was terminated due to inadequate immersion suits for the crew which had no strobe lights as required attached because they were on the nets to see them at night. Also, the vessel did not have any type of buoyant apparatus on board, the life ring buoy had multiple cuts and the vessel's documentation had the previous owner's name on it and was not current or updated since the current owner's possession.

The crew of the Teri Lynn was able to fixed all of their especially hazardous conditions Tuesday and were allowed to continue their voyage. Because of the remote location of King Cove, it would have taken a number of days for a Coast Guard inspector from Sector Anchorage to arrive. The Acushnet crew, working with Sector Anchorage, was able to provide a post-boarding inspection to clear them to operate.

The Teri Lynn is a 46-foot Seattle-based fishing vessel and the St. Francis is a 38-foot is homeported at Cape Cove, Alaska.

The Acushnet is a 270-foot medium endurance cutter homeported in Ketchikan and is the oldest operational cutter in the Coast Guard.

Source of News:

United States Coast Guard
www.uscg.mil

 

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