The unified command formed to respond to the sinking fishing vessel Alaska Juris in the Bering Sea has called off the search for the 218-foot boat, which is presumed to have sunk in 5,400 feet of water.
Federal on-scene coordinator Lt. Todd Bagetis said searchers had been unable to locate the vessel owned by the Alaska Fishing Company in Seattle.
A search of the area northwest of Adak, 41 miles northeast of Segula Island in the Aleutians showed no trace of the Alaska Juris, according to the US Coast Guard and Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation.
Cause of the sinking is under investigation.
Forty-six crewmembers aboard the Alaska Juris had to abandon ship into three life rafts on July 26 after the vessel began taking on water. The Coast Guard’s 17th District picked up an electronic distress call and issued an urgent message to merchant ships in the area. Good Samaritans aboard the Norwegian flagged bulk carrier Spar Canis rescued 28 of the crewmembers in two life boats and the German-flagged container ship Vienna Express rescued 18 others aboard the third life boat.
All were wearing survival suits and there were no injuries.
The Fishing Company of Alaska also owned the factory trawler Alaska Ranger, which sank in the Bering Sea on March 23, 2008. Five of the 47 men on board the Alaska Ranger died in that incident, but only four bodies were recovered.
Federal on-scene coordinator Lt. Todd Bagetis said searchers had been unable to locate the vessel owned by the Alaska Fishing Company in Seattle.
A search of the area northwest of Adak, 41 miles northeast of Segula Island in the Aleutians showed no trace of the Alaska Juris, according to the US Coast Guard and Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation.
Cause of the sinking is under investigation.
Forty-six crewmembers aboard the Alaska Juris had to abandon ship into three life rafts on July 26 after the vessel began taking on water. The Coast Guard’s 17th District picked up an electronic distress call and issued an urgent message to merchant ships in the area. Good Samaritans aboard the Norwegian flagged bulk carrier Spar Canis rescued 28 of the crewmembers in two life boats and the German-flagged container ship Vienna Express rescued 18 others aboard the third life boat.
All were wearing survival suits and there were no injuries.
The Fishing Company of Alaska also owned the factory trawler Alaska Ranger, which sank in the Bering Sea on March 23, 2008. Five of the 47 men on board the Alaska Ranger died in that incident, but only four bodies were recovered.