The Coast Guard revealed that Katmai has sent an e-mail sent to a nearby vessel saying it was taking on water in the rear, where the steering was housed. After the information the Coast Guard started operation and saved 4 crew members, found 5 dead bodies and still searched for two crew members whose fates remained unknown.
According to the Coast Guard it is still not clear what happened aboard the Katmai, which sank early Wednesday in the icy waters off Alaska’s Aleutian Islands with a crew of 11 aboard. Jeff DeBell, chief financial officer of Katmai Fisheries, which owned the boat, told that they are devastated by what has happened.
The Seattle-based company identified the survivors as Capt. Henry Blake and crew members Guy Schroeder, Adam Foster and Harold Appling. Coast Guard Petty Officer Levi Read said that all the crew members were able to get into survival suits, according to members of another fishing vessel in the area that received the e-mail. It is informed that a survival suit can extend the life of people in cold waters, depending on their physical condition, how panicked they are or whether they are in a group or a life raft. Without a suit, death comes quickly.
Read also said that the four crew members who survived were found in good condition Wednesday afternoon, after spending about 15 hours floating in the ocean. It is told that the Katmai had been headed toward Dutch Harbor on Unalaska Island, 800 miles southwest of Anchorage. It was the company’s only ship.
