Survivors Of Skipper Sue For $4.6 Million In Crab-Boat Sinking

A $4.6 million lawsuit has been filed by the relatives of the skipper of a Seattle-based crab vessel that sank three months ago in the Bering Sea.

The relatives of Patrick Berg are asking for $3.6 million in general damages and $1 million in punitive damages from All Alaskan Seafoods Inc., which owned the vessel.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle by the law firm Siderius, Lonergan & Crowley, was brought by Berg's wife, Cheryl Lynnmarie; their daughter, Kristine Marie, who was 1 when Berg died; and Berg's stepdaughter, Genevieve Noel Stier, who was 9 when Berg died.

All Alaska Seafoods officials declined comment, saying they had not seen the suit.

The suit alleges that Berg died as a result of All Alaskan Seafoods providing a vessel that was not seaworthy. The suit says:

``As a result of its unseaworthiness the vessel developed a severe starboard list within a short time prior to its foundering. The engine room filled with water causing loss of power in the starboard main engine. Within minutes thereafter all power was lost and the vessel foundered and capsized shortly after 2:10 a.m.''

The suit specifically states that the ship was not seaworthy because in 1978 it had been ``reconfigured'' to serve as a crabber with winches and other deck equipment. It also says the owners failed to conduct complete tests to analyze the vessel's stability and buoyancy in light of the changes.

The ship had stability problems prior to the day it sank, the suit charges.

According to engine-room logs kept by an engineer who used to sail on the vessel, a former first mate described how the vessel almost rolled over in 1988 when the engine room took on water through two holes drilled at a shipyard.

The suit further alleges that the ship was ``undermanned'' when it sank. The vessel was being operated by Berg.