A second trip to view Arctic Rose yields more clues

A second trip to view Arctic Rose yields more clues

Monday, August 27, 2001

By MAUREEN CLARK
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

ANCHORAGE -- The Coast Guard team investigating the sinking of the Arctic Rose gathered more clues from a remote-controlled camera during a second expedition to the Bering Sea site where the Seattle-based vessel went down.

Despite rough seas, investigators could see portions of the ship not seen during the last effort, including an open water-tight door between the deck and fish-processing area that was supposed to be closed.

"We got some very good video this time -- not everything we wanted, but a great deal of it," Capt. Ron Morris, chairman of the panel investigating the tragedy, said yesterday.

The 92-foot Arctic Rose sank suddenly April 2, while it was 775 miles southwest of Anchorage. All 15 men on board were killed. It was the worst U.S. commercial fishing disaster in 50 years.

The new pictures show that a door from the trawl deck to the processing area was open, Morris said. That door is supposed to be kept closed so that water doesn't get in and threaten the vessel's stability.

At hearings earlier this summer, witnesses told the investigators the water-tight door was frequently tied open.

"We'll do some more evaluation of that," Morris said.

The first filming effort ended abruptly last month when the cable controlling the remotely operated vehicle became tangled in lines from the Arctic Rose and snapped. The camera was lost in 450 feet of water.

On this trip, a crew from Maritime Consultants, a Puyallup-based company, spent 12 hours from Friday afternoon to early Saturday morning maneuvering the remotely operated camera around the ship.

Once again, the camera became tangled in lines, Morris said.

Morris said the videotape raised new questions and the panel would call on those familiar with the vessel to help them understand what they saw.

The Coast Guard investigators, on a fishing vessel chartered for the exploration, were due to reach Unalaska today and were scheduled to hear from expert witnesses in Seattle beginning tomorrow.

Family members of those who died in the sinking of the Arctic Rose will be given an opportunity to view the latest undersea pictures after the hearings conclude Thursday, Morris said.

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