Aleutian Enterprise Captain Describes Ship's Safety Gear, Sinking

The captain of the ill-fated Aleutian Enterprise said he once took a couple cases of beer aboard the vessel while it was being unloaded in port, but that he had not used alcohol or drugs and was not aware of its use by any of his crew the day the vessel capsized and sank in the Bering Sea.

Mark Siemons, 28, testified yesterday he had not requested a drug test after the March 22 accident, but that he had been given a drug test after arriving at Dutch Harbor, Alaska, aboard a rescue boat.

Yesterday was Siemons' second day of testimony, which included questioning from National Transportation Safety Board investigators, came before a Coast Guard panel investigating the sinking of the trawler operated by Arctic Alaska Fisheries of Seattle.

Siemons told NTSB investigator Raymond Diegel that he had received training in cardio-pulmonary resuscitation, first-aid and firefighting while studying for his Coast Guard mate's license late last year. But he said he had no survival training and had conducted no emergency drills for the Aleutian Enterprise crew.

Earlier he said crewmen should have known about emergency gear because ``station bills'' and ``bunk cards'' - instructions that tell where to go in an emergency - were posted in the pilothouse, on the deck level, in the galley, and on bunks.

There were life raft assignments on station bills, Siemons said, and there were 36 survival suits aboard, 16 of them in the

pilothouse, Siemons said.

Asked how he knew that, he responded, ``We counted them . . . at one time.''

The Aleutian Enterprise had not been outfitted with new survival suits for the ill-fated trip, Siemons said, but at his instructions the vessel's factory foreman had inspected survival suits, waxing the zippers and checking lights on the suits, last fall.

Life rafts and fire extinguishers also were serviced in Dutch Harbor in September, he said. ``When I first came aboard, there was no record of when they were serviced last, and the dates on canisters was overdue.''

Siemons said the vessel was equipped with four life rafts - two stowed forward of the pilothouse and two more midships on the port rail.

Under questioning by Coast Guard Lt. James Watson, Siemons said safety video tapes were aboard the Aleutian Enterprise. But he had no system in place to verify whether all crewmen viewed those videos.

Nine men died and 22 others were rescued when the 162-foot processing ship capsized and sank. Crew members said the boat sank within minutes after it started to list.

Earlier yesterday, Siemons testified the ship began listing as the crew attempted to land a catch of cod he estimated at more than 40 tons - one of the largest he had ever netted on the Aleutian Enterprise.

Part of the net ripped as it was being lifted, spilling about five tons of fish across the trawl deck, Siemons said. He said he went to adjust the controls that maneuver the net when he noticed the ship listing to port.

``It (the list) didn't slow down, it didn't stop. It just kept increasing,'' Siemons said.

Coast Guard investigators are examining the loading process as one possible cause for the capsizing. Reports of a collapsed fuel tank and faulty welds in the hull also are being checked.

Siemons was not asked to speculate on a cause for the accident, and said he had no idea why the ship started to list.

He said when he noticed the tilt, he immediately called to the ship's engineer, who said he was transferring fuel to the starboard side - possibly in an attempt to counter the list.

Siemons told the three-member Coast Guard panel he tried to counter the list by gunning one engine, then gave up that effort to run below decks and alert the crew.

He described his own struggle in the water, when he opened one life raft and fought in vain to open another. ``I was very concerned about what was going on around me. . . . I didn't feel cold; I don't know why.''

Siemons said after he fell off the ship, he was able to reach a floating canister containing a life raft and popped it open by pulling its line.

But another raft would not open because its line was wedged into the side of the canister.

After pulling repeatedly on the line, he said, he let the second raft drift away. ``My hands were too numb to work on it any longer.''

Siemons is expected to continue his testimony when the Coast Guard panel reconvenes at 9 a.m. Tuesday at the University Plaza Hotel.