COAST GUARD JOINS SEARCH FOR 54 MISSING CREWMEMBERS FROM CAPSIZED SOUTH KOREAN TRAWLER 501 ORYONG IN BERING SEA

The Coast Guard Alaska Sector and five Good Samaritan vessels are assisting the Russian Kamchatka Border Guard Directorate (KBGD) in finding 54 crew members missing from the capsized South Korean trawler 501 ORYONG. According to the KBGD, the crew was hauling in its catch of pollock when a wave hit and flooded the boat’s cargo holds. The 326-foot vessel sank off the coast of Chukotka, Russia on November 30, 2014.

Coast Guard spokeswoman Petty Officer 2nd Class Diana Honings said that officials from the KBGD requested U.S. assistance with the search on December 1. They reported that a Good Samaritan vessel had rescued seven people in a life raft, one person was confirmed dead, and 54 were missing. A Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak Hercules airplane crew and the crew of the Coast Guard Cutter MUNRO along with a Dolphin helicopter were sent to the scene Monday morning.

Weather on scene was reported as half-mile visibility with a 250-foot ceiling, 22-foot waves and water temperature at 57 degrees.

The last time a fishing factory ship of this size sank in the Bering Sea was when the F/V ALASKA RANGER flooded and sank on Easter weekend of 2008. Of the 47 crew members on board, 42 were rescued. Beard Stacey and Jacobsen successfully represented many survivors in state and federal court to gain fair compensation. They also represented a a bereaved family of one of the drowned men. For more information, click on the above tab called Firm Web Site, and then on the right side of the page click on Commercial Fishing Accidents.