ALASKA RANGER: SHIP SANK OFF ALASKA, INVESTIGATION HEATS UP

The Alaska Ranger is seen at a port in Dutch Harbor, Jan. 2006. The Coast Guard said four crew members died Sunday, March 23, 2008, and another was missing after the 184-foot Alaska Ranger began sinking in high seas off Alaska's Aleutian Islands. (AP Photo/Jim Paulin) (AP)

Company officials grilled in Alaska Ranger sinking investigation
By DAN CATCHPOLE
Associated Press Writer/ April 16, 2008

Federal investigators on Tuesday grilled two officials of the company that owned a fishing vessel lost in the Bering Sea, asking about previous reports of drinking on board, rips in survival suits and the condition of the ship's watertight doors.

The Seattle-based Fishing Co. of Alaska, which owned the Alaska Ranger, followed safety regulations to the best of its ability, the witnesses told the Marine Board of Investigation, which included Coast Guard and National Transportation Safety Board officials.

"We're fishermen but we're not dummies, and the North Pacific is a rough place to make a living," said William McGill, a former captain of the Alaska Ranger and now operations manager for the Fishing Co. of Alaska.

The investigation, which resumed Tuesday in Seattle after earlier hearings in Alaska, focused on technical issues and questions raised in previous hearings.

Five people died when the Seattle-based ship went down in rough seas about 120 miles west of Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands on March 23. The vessel was on its way to mackerel grounds when it began taking on water through the rudder room.

Forty-two crewmen were rescued by the Coast Guard and the Alaska Ranger's sister ship, the Alaska Warrior.

The Fishing Co. of Alaska also faces legal action, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported, noting five survivors of the sinking filed personal injury lawsuits Monday in King County Superior Court.

Some survivors had testified that there were rips in survival suits. There has also been conflicting testimony about drinking on board.

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