4 dead, 1 missing, 42 rescued after Seattle boat sank in Bering Sea

Four people — including the captain — are dead and a fifth is missing after a Seattle-based fishing boat sank in the Bering Sea early today.

The Alaska Ranger began taking on water after losing control of its rudder about 120 miles west of Dutch Harbor, according to U.S. Coast Guard officials.

The 189-foot boat sent a distress call shortly before 3 a.m., officials said. The 47 crew members abandoned ship, some scrambling into life rafts. A sister ship in the area, the Alaska Warrior, and Coast Guard helicopters helped rescue 42 crew members.

"Saving 42 people in Bering Sea in the winter is an incredible accomplishment," said Commander Todd Trimpert, Chief Incident Management 17th Coast Guard District and experienced Alaska rescue pilot, "We were very fortunate to have the Alaska Warrior in the area."

Searchers on the scene spotted oil slicks but not the Ranger, and the vessel appears to have sunk, according to Mike Szymanski, an official with Seattle-based Fishing Co. of Alaska, which owns the boat.

Coast Guard searchers hadn't found any sign of the Ranger, said Chief Petty Officer Barry Lane.

Some of the rescued crew were being transported by boat back to Dutch Harbor, while others remained on a boat that is searching the area. Lane said there was no indication of any medical emergencies. The bodies of the four dead crew members had been recovered and were also headed back to Dutch Harbor.

Captain Eric Peter Jacobsen was one of the four crew members who died, according to the boat's owner, Fishing Company of Alaska. The others were Daniel Cook, the chief engineer; David Silveira, the mate; and Byron Carrillo, a crewman, the company said in a statement.

Ages and hometowns of the men were not released.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with their families and loved ones. We are now concentrating on rescue efforts," the statement said. "We do not have sufficient information to determine why the vessel foundered. We will do everything possible to find out what occurred with the hope that something can be learned that will be of value to our fishing community."

There were 6- to 8-foot swells and 25-knot winds when the boat got into trouble, according to Lane. That is fairly typical for the area, he said, adding that there were no large waves or unusually stormy conditions reported.

State environmental regulators were notified that the ship was carrying 145,000 gallons of diesel when it sank in deep seas, according to Leslie Pearson, emergency response manager for the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation.

A Coast Guard C-130 air crew reported an oil sheen that covered an area of a quarter mile by a half mile, a Coast Guard spokesman said. Because of the strong winds, however, any cleanup effort is unlikely, although those conditions would disperse a spill much more quickly than calm weather.

The boat is part of the head-and-gut fleet that scoops up yellowfin sole, mackerel and other species in trawl nets, then processes and freezes the catch on board. It was en route Sunday from Dutch Harbor to fish for mackerel, Szymanski said.

The Alaska Ranger is one of seven vessels operated by Fishing Co. of Alaska, which was founded in Seward, Alaska, in 1985 but now is headquartered in Seattle. Five of those vessels use trawl nets to catch fish, while the other two use longlines, which are strings of baited hooks set along the bottom.

Company officials and others in the tightly knit fishing communities both in Seattle and Alaska are mourning the loss of life.

"We can replace our boat — but we can't replace the soul, the spirt of those guys that have been working for us for all these year," said Szymanski. "Our main concern now is to take care of the surviving crews, and the families that have been impacted by this.

Szymanski said there was no indication of any problems with the vessel before it left Dutch Harbor. Szymanski said owner Karena Adler keeps in close contact with crews — talking with skippers at port and emphasizing safety.

"Every time one of out boats leaves, she assumes responsibility to ensure that they are going to come home," Szymanski said. "This is just tough, tough to figure out."

The Fishing Co. of Alaska has had problems in the past.

In 1995, a fire aboard another of its boats, the Alaska Spirit, while the boat was moored in Alaska killed the master of the vessel and caused damage estimated at $3 million. The fire prompted the National Transportation Safety Board to issue a series of safety recommendations to 250 domestic fishing and processing ships.

In 1998, the company lost another vessel, the 198-foot Alaska-1, which sank after it collided with a freighter about 34 miles north of Dutch Harbor. All 33 members of that vessel abandoned ship and were rescued without injury or loss of life.

In 2006, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration levied a fine of $254,000 against the fishing vessel, Alaska Juris, and the Fishing Co. of Alaska, which managed the vessel. NOAA said the companies had interfered with fishing observers — tampering or destroying their equipment; failing to provide them a safe work area; and failing to tell them when fish were coming aboard so they could sample the catch.

Coast Guard documents indicate that since 1992 there have been at least nine injuries reported aboard the Alaska Ranger, built in 1973. Records of all nine incidents were not immediately available, but four involved cut or crushed fingers and hands. In a fifth case, an employee was struck by an object while on deck hauling in a net and ended up with a fractured neck.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.