Video reveals little of what happened to the Arctic Rose

Video reveals little of what happened to the Arctic Rose

Tuesday, July 24, 2001

By PHUONG CAT LE
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Murky underwater footage of the sunken Arctic Rose revealed the vessel's chipped blue paint, collapsed orange bumpers, its pilothouse and a blue canvas bag teetering on its railing.

But the ghostly image -- captured by a remote-controlled video camera -- revealed little more about what happened to the Seattle-based fishing trawler that sunk suddenly April 2, killing all 15 men on board.

A Coast Guard team located the Seattle-based vessel about 400 miles from Dutch Harbor, Alaska, but the underwater video camera got tangled in a web of ropes, forcing the team to end its expedition last week.

Investigators plan another trip by the end of August, said Coast Guard Capt. Ron Morris, chairman of the marine board of investigation looking into the worst commercial fishing disaster in the Bering Sea in 19 years.

Before the expedition lost its camera under 428 feet of water, investigators managed to scan the bow of the ship, noting unbroken pilothouse windows and the name "Arctic Rose" painted in white on the ship's hull.

Yesterday, Morris showed the footage to 19 family members of the men killed when the Arctic Rose mysteriously sank in the early-morning hours.

"There's a lot of things that we don't know," Morris said yesterday. He said it seemed as if the vessel "came down like somebody placed it on the bottom," perhaps indicating the Arctic Rose had not capsized.

Investigators also believe that the Arctic Rose was not fishing at the time it went down, because technicians did not see loose cables or nets in the water.

Beyond that, the mystery of the sinking continues.

The Coast Guard investigators commissioned the Ocean Explorer, a 150-foot commercial fishing trawler, on a $200,000 expedition to help solve the mystery.

Using sonar equipment, the 19-member team located the Arctic Rose sitting on the ocean floor, with its bow pointed southwest.

Then they sent a remote-controlled video camera fastened to about 1,000 feet of cable into the murky water. Equipped with lights, the camera had a visibility of 6 to 10 feet.

The team captured about two hours and 40 minutes of footage, but only about 12 minutes were of the ship itself.

No obvious damage was seen on the footage. The camera never examined the ship's stern because the cables got tangled in a web of multicolored fishing ropes and was irretrievable.

"It was a big disappointment," Morris said. "It reels you on your heels."

On the next expedition, Morris said he hopes to examine the ship's condition further. The team will be investigating the integrity of the water tank, the vessel's maintenance, the structure of the hull, the rudder and propeller.

P-I reporter Phuong Cat Le can be reached at 206-448-8336 or phuongle@seattlepi.com

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