"The Scandies Rose fishing boat set out to sea from Kodiak, Alaska on 30 December 2019 with a crew of seven, into weather as bad as anything December could throw. It was enough of a shitty forecast, said one of the crew in later testimony, I didn't think we were going to leave that night. At 8.35pm, fierce, frigid winds were blowing. Some boats stayed in harbour but the Scandies Rose still set out."
"One of the last jobs before departure was to stack the crab pots properly. There were 198 on board. That is a heavy load but not unusual. Each pot measured more than 2 metres by 2 metres. Big, heavy fucking pots, Gribble said. The stack was huge. Gribble had to climb all over it. It was four or five pots high and with all his checking and re-checking, his legs and arms were burning."
"Cobban expected conditions to be icing, and a crab pot laden with ice can weigh more than 1,000kg. Fuck, said Gribble. It seemed fine. The crew was Gary Cobban, David, Gary's son; the engineer, Arthur Ganacia; Brock Rainey, who had fished with Gary for 15 years or so, and Seth Rousseau-Gano. Jon Lawler was on board, and his friend Dean Gribble, who was new but only to this boat he had been fishing since he was 11."
The Scandies Rose left Kodiak on 30 December 2019 at 8:35pm carrying seven crew, 7,000kg of bait, and 198 large crab pots. Fierce, frigid winds and icy conditions were present at departure. The pots measured more than two metres each and were stacked four to five high; the crew secured rows with chains and ties and performed checks despite physical strain. Captain Gary Cobban led a safety drill covering EPIRB location and emergency procedures. Icing risk was noted, with crab pots capable of gaining over 1,000kg from ice, posing a major stability hazard.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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