Sitka Fishing Boat Sinks Near Kodiak

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The Sitka based 50-foot fishing vessel Tammy Lin capsized and sank south of Kodiak Thursday afternoon, but the four men aboard were able to abandon ship in a life raft, and were rescued, said the Alaska Air National Guard, the main response agency on the rescue.
    A Good Samaritan vessel, the Polar Star, was the first at the scene, and picked up the men from the life raft. Shortly afterward one of the men was hoisted into a rescue helicopter and flown to Anchorage for treatment for hypothermia, the Alaska Air National Guard said.

The F/V Tammy Lin is pictured in Sitka Channel. (Photo Provided)

    The Tammy Lin was home-ported in Sitka and owned by Dylan Swanberg. For many years it was owned by George Eliason, also of Sitka, who used it with his family for salmon and longline fishing.
    At 4:02 p.m. Thursday, the Tammy Lin made a mayday call on VHF Channel 16, reporting the boat had capsized about 20 miles southwest of Kodiak Island, the Coast Guard and the National Guard said. The signal reached Coast Guard Sector Western Alaska.
    All but one of the four aboard were able to don survival suits before abandoning ship and getting into the life raft.
    The boat’s emergency position indicating radio beacon (EPIRB) was triggered as the boat sank, sending a distress signal that was picked up by the U.S. Coast Guard rescue coordination center in Juneau.
    The JBER Alaska Rescue Coordination Center launched an Air National Guard Pave Hawk, and a fixed wing Super C-130 Combat King II aircraft. The C-130 contacted the Polar Star to receive updated coordinates of their location, and relay them to the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center. The plane also refueled the Pave Hawk to increase the helicopter’s flying range to cover the 370-plus miles from JBER to the fishing vessel.
    At the scene, the helicopter lowered the Air National Guard’s rescuers to the Polar Star, where they assessed the hypothermic crew member, before hoisting him aboard the helicopter to fly him to the hospital in Anchorage.
    Alaska Air National Guard Maj. Duane Griffith, AKRCC director of operations, stressed the importance for mariners to have and register an EPIRB on their boat.
    “The EPIRB automatically activated and provided rescuers precise coordinates for us to begin our search,” Griffith said. “Fortunately, Alaskans often take care of Alaskans in need, and Good Samaritans helped with a good outcome.”
    The Tammy Lin is a well-known fishing boat in Sitka, moored in Crescent Harbor. George Eliason bought it around 1995, renamed it Tammy Lin, after his wife Tammy and daughter Lindy, and owned it for about 20 years. Eliason said when he bought it, it was sparsely equipped and he spent years rebuilding the pilot house, adding electronics and refrigeration, and generally upgrading it to be the boat he wanted it to be.
    Eliason said he had generally good luck with the vessel as a fishing boat, going out on longline trips, and salmon fishing with his family. His two boys grew up working on the boat until they were adults, he said. Eliason said he was “heartbroken” to hear the boat had sunk, but pleased to hear everyone was able to be rescued.
    “It was our home and business for 20 years,” he said.

You have no rights to post comments

Login Form

 

20 YEARS AGO

November 2004

Sitka Tribe of Alaska is having a Traditional Foods Contest. Categories for dishes include best use of herring eggs, best dried seaweed, best half-dried salmon, best contemporary dish using traditional ingredients and most authentic traditional dish. Call Jessica Perkins with questions.

50 YEARS AGO

November 1974

Classified ads, Personal: Tickets of Red aren’t a disgrace, a waitress will get them when she parks out of place. Ratfink.

Calendar

Local Events

Instagram

Daily Sitka Sentinel on Instagram!

Facebook

Daily Sitka Sentinel on Facebook!