Petersburg Pilot

Tender sinks and is salvaged

at north end of Wrangell Narrows

Keith Chaplin

September 2, 2010

A 65-foot fish tender that hit an iceberg Friday morning and sank at the north end of the Wrangell Narrows was salvaged Monday and will be back to work next season, according to its captain.

The boat, the F/V Emily Jane was returning to Petersburg early Friday morning from the Taku river area laden with 22,000 pounds of Coho salmon when it hit an iceberg approximately one mile from Petersburg.

Captain and owner Lynn Hillyard was on the home stretch at 1:15 a.m. Friday to drop off the fish at Trident Seafoods in Petersburg and was paying close attention to the tides and the buoy markers on the starboard side of the boat when the collision occurred on the port side, he said.

“I was looking at the buoy light,” Hillyard said.

He immediately checked the damage in the engine room and determined the boat would sink, he said. He had a crewmember steer the boat towards shore as he readied the life raft.

Within 15 minutes, Hillyard and his two crew were standing on the bait shed of the sinking vessel and were picked up by the F/V Miss Barbara, which was also returning to Petersburg. The AMHS ferry Taku also responded and was in the area.

On Monday, Hillyard and one of his crewmembers watched as the vessel was pulled into dry dock at Petersburg Shipwrights for coast guard inspection and maintenance. The gash in the hull was sealed with plywood and covered with a tarp.

Some of the windows on the port side had been blown out during the sinking and a few antennas and booms were bent. The bait shed on the back was slightly displaced and caulking had fallen out. Water leaked out of a crack in the hull.

Hillyard said the damage to the vessel was less than he expected, but will necessitate an entire overhaul from hull to engine to wiring, he said.

Hillyard, who said he had the added luck of having a salvage company in Petersburg at the time of the sinking, praised the salvage company and the coordination of local vessels in rescuing him and his crew from the sinking vessel.

“Everybody in Petersburg has been great,” Hillyard said. “I appreciate all the help. Strangers have come up to me off the street and offered their help.”

On Friday morning, Hillyard said he had heard some chatter on the VHF radio between two captains who said they hadn’t seen any icebergs in the area.

Hillyard said he suspects the tiderip at the time probably brought the icebergs in close to the Narrows.

Hillyard said he has worked with Trident in Petersburg for the past six years and since buying the boat in 1970 has had no incidents with the vessel.

The wooden hulled boat was built in 1947, he said.

On Saturday, Hillyard said he saw a large iceberg floating back up the Narrows that he suspects was the culprit.

The fish onboard the tender was selling for about $1.10 per pound, Hillyard said, meaning the cargo onboard was worth just under $25,000.

Once the boat sank and the fish came in contact with some oil from the vessel, it was unrecoverable he said.

“It’s a shame, those were big beautiful fish,” Hillyard said.

Hillyard said at the time of the collision, a mayday call to the coast guard went unheard and he did not have any contact with the coast guard until hours later when he discussed the incident via cell phone.

Following the sinking, a boom was laid around the vessel to collect any oil. The boat was carrying about 800 gallons of fuel, most of which was pumped out by the salvage company, Hillyard said.

After the damage to the hull is repaired, Hillyard said he will arrange to have the boat towed back to its homeport in Seattle.

“Our season’s over,” Hillyard said. “We’ll be back next year.”