Crewman found dead on trawler near Dutch Harbor

From the Alaska State Troopers:

Location: Unimak

Type: Deceased person

On 1/27/25 Alaska State Troopers received a report of a death. Kien Au, 66, a crewmember onboard a large trawler about 110 miles from Dutch Harbor, was found deceased in his room. Next of kin has been notified. The state medical examiner's office has received the remains and conducted an autopsy. It was determined that Au passed away from natural causes. No foul play has been suspected.

A big announcement from Maersk

The shipping giant Maersk today posted this advisory saying in part: "We will no longer be calling terminals in Dutch Harbor and Kodiak on the Transpacific Network in the coming year."

How will this affect Alaska's fishing industry?

USCG reports fire and vessel tow

A U.S. Coast Guard enforcement report to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council includes this note:

May 15 — F/V Defender reported fire onboard. The fire was extinguished, and a tug towed the vessel into Dutch Harbor while being escorted by USCG cutter Midgett.

Fire reported on ship carrying lithium-ion batteries

Details in this press release from the U.S. Coast Guard.

Unalaska at risk

The city of Unalaska is reporting dozens of new, industry-related cases of COVID-19, and is warning the situation is quite serious.

"The community is most definitely at a high local risk factor for COVID-19, in fact, more serious than at any time since the start of the pandemic," the city said in a news release today.

Unalaska, of course, serves as the hub of the Bering Sea fishing industry.

Big news for Dutch Harbor

The UniSea processing plant at Dutch Harbor is getting a $21 million makeover, according to a media report out of Tokyo.

The plant, one of the largest in Alaska, makes pollock surimi and also handles crab. It opened in 1990.

UniSea is a subsidiary of Nippon Suisan Kaisha.

Former Westward supervisors draw jail time

A federal judge has sentenced two former Westward Seafoods supervisors to jail time in connection with an air pollution case at the company's Dutch Harbor plant.

Here's a lengthy news release from the U.S. attorney's office.

Fisherman with foot injury needs medevac

A Coast Guard helicopter today hoisted an injured crewman off the 116-foot fishing vessel Patricia Lee, located near Dutch Harbor.

The crewman, 27, was reported to have suffered a foot injury, the Coast Guard said.

Salvage plans in works for sunken vessel

Here's a situation report on the grounding of the F/V Arctic Hunter near Dutch Harbor.

Longliner crew rescued near Dutch Harbor

A Coast Guard helicopter this morning safely rescued four fishermen whose boat went aground near Dutch Harbor.

The Coast Guard identified the boat as the Chaos, a 54-foot longliner out of Homer. More details here.

Coast Guard medevacs crewman with head injury

The U.S. Coast Guard yesterday airlifted an injured man off the factory trawler Alaska Juris.

The man, 43, was injured when a falling box of frozen fish struck him in the head, the Coast Guard said.

At the time of the call for help, the 238-foot vessel was 178 miles southeast of Dutch Harbor.

The Coast Guard directed the Alaska Juris to change course, to close the distance the rescue helicopter had to fly.

The helicopter, off the cutter Boutwell, safely hoisted the injured man and delivered him for medical attention in Dutch Harbor.

Fishing Company of Alaska, based in Washington state, operates the Alaska Juris.

Ammonia leak stirs Dutch Harbor

The 129-member crew of the processing ship Excellence was forced to evacuate after the vessel experienced an ammonia leak Friday while tied up at the Kloosterboer cold storage dock in Dutch Harbor.

Firefighters sprayed water in an effort to suppress vapors. As a community precaution, the Excellence later was towed (top photo) to an offshore mooring buoy in Wide Bay.

Three people needed medical attention for ammonia exposure, with two of those transferred to Anchorage.

A hazmat team from the UniSea processing plant went aboard the vessel today and determined ammonia was still leaking.

Ammonia is a gas used in freezer systems.

The 367-foot Excellence is a mothership that processes Bering Sea pollock deliveries from catcher boats.

Photos are courtesy of the U.S. Coast Guard.

Looking for things that go boom

This advertisement was published in Monday's Anchorage Daily News:

Do you have any historical information about ordnance at Kodiak, Dutch Harbor, or Kiska?

The U.S. Navy is investigating the possibility that World War II era ordnance may exist in the marine environment near the former military defense areas at Kodiak Island, Dutch Harbor, and Kiska Island. If you have information about over-water ordnance handling, the locations of anti-aircraft batteries or coastal gun emplacements, in-water target ranges and bombing ranges, or the locations of unexploded ordnance discoveries in the marine environment, can you please contact us? Please contact Tom Abbott by phone at (206) 438-2004, or by email at [email protected].

End of the line for high-seas drifter

Federal officials intend to scrap the Bangun Perkasa, the high-seas driftnet vessel detained at Dutch Harbor since October.

They're seeking a contractor to "dismantle and dispose of the ship."

Marine surveyor Jack McFarland found the vessel to be old and poorly maintained. He put its value at $250,000.

See the contractor solicitation, the survey report and a bunch of photos here.

The 'pirate' arrives

Here's the accused high-seas driftnetter Bangun Perkasa, now tied up at the Magone Marine dock in Dutch Harbor. NOAA has custody of the boat. Deckboss thanks James Mason for the fine photos.

Use 'pirate' for gunnery practice, Begich says

Two crewmen from the seized fishing vessel Bangun Perkasa arrive in Dutch Harbor. They were transported aboard the Alaska State Troopers enforcement vessel Stimson. Troopers gave no explanation for the crewmen's odd attire: white coveralls, hairnets and facemasks. James Mason photo

"Now that this pirate ship is in custody I have one recommendation: the Coast Guard should sink the Bangun Perkasa."

That's the word from U.S. Sen. Mark Begich, an Alaska Democrat and chair of the Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries and Coast Guard.

Here is Begich's letter to Coast Guard Commandant Robert J. Papp.

Seized ship to be de-ratted, maybe auctioned

The Bangun Perkasa, left, and the cutter Munro. USCG photo

A U.S. Coast Guard officer today briefed the North Pacific Fishery Management Council on what's planned for the suspected illegal high-seas driftnet vessel Bangun Perkasa.

A contractor today or tomorrow will begin "rat remediation" on the vessel at sea. Presumably this means extermination.

The de-ratting process will take a week. Meantime, the 22 crewmen aboard the vessel will be taken off and repatriated to their home countries.

Once rat-free, the Bangun Perkasa will be brought into Dutch Harbor, where National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration authorities will place the vessel under arrest.

Most likely, the ship will be auctioned. Its owner, said to be "in China somewhere," might buy the vessel back, and this could serve as the owner's fine, the Coast Guard officer said.

56 hours in Dutch Harbor

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council is meeting this week way out in Dutch Harbor.

As usual, the agenda is packed, with a total of 56 hours of meeting time scheduled.

Deckboss is hard-pressed to find much excitement in this meeting, as the council isn't expected to take final action on any major issues.

One item likely to stir some interesting conversation, however, concerns the council's intent to reduce the allowable bycatch of halibut in the Gulf of Alaska.

The council in April put some options on the table for cutting the halibut bycatch limit by 5 to 15 percent for Gulf trawl and fixed-gear fleets.

Council members are expected to chew on the numbers further in Dutch Harbor, then select a "final preferred alternative" at their December meeting in Anchorage.

When all is said and done, regulators could implement tighter halibut bycatch limits early next year.

Bycatch, of course, is a hot topic these days due to recent declines in Gulf halibut biomass and rising tensions between two competing fleets — charter boats and commercial longliners — dependent on the fish.

Here's the council's draft analysis on the halibut bycatch issue. The first page has a nice summary. Thorough types are welcome to continue through the remaining 464 pages.

Coast Guard medevacs crewman with head injury

This just in from the U.S. Coast Guard:

Sept. 22, 2011

Coast Guard medevacs fisherman from Dutch Harbor

A Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak HC-130 Hercules aircrew medevaced a 26-year-old male today from Dutch Harbor to Anchorage.

The crew of the 116-foot Constellation contacted the Coast Guard about 5 p.m. Wednesday reporting a crewmember had suffered head injuries from a fall while the vessel was transiting through 10-foot seas about 45 miles northeast of Dutch Harbor.

The Coast Guard diverted the Hercules from a training flight to meet the Constellation in Dutch Harbor.

The Constellation arrived in Dutch Harbor at about 10:30 p.m.

The Hercules arrived in Anchorage at 2:15 a.m., and the patient was taken to Alaska Regional Hospital.

When the siren sounds...

Donald Graves, UniSea manager at Dutch Harbor, directs the evacuation of processing plant workers after a tsunami warning around 7:30 p.m. Thursday. The warning came in response to a magnitude 7.3 earthquake occurring 20 miles southeast of Amukta Pass. Unalaska police and fire units reported "most if not all citizens" reached high ground by about 8:15 p.m. But no tsunami came and the warning soon was canceled. Jim Paulin photo