Man Found Dead Linked To Shipboard Romance

A man whose body was found floating in a tank aboard a Russian fishing ship may have had an on-board affair with the lover of the ship's captain in the weeks before his death, according to documents filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle.

According to a deposition of a fellow fisherman, many on board the Russian fishing ship had seen Scott McBurney, a single man working on the processing ship, spending time with the woman who worked in the ship's galley.

The affair was risky, Per Bojen said in his deposition, because ". . .the captain is like the God on the Russian boats. They might have a lover or whatever on the boat - which is pretty common and that's the captain's."

The deposition is part of a civil lawsuit filed by McBurney's family after McBurney was found floating in a holding tank on board the F/V Solidarnost Jan. 17, while the boat was fishing in Russian waters.

According to a complaint filed by the family, McBurney was found dead in a tank used to hold fish prior to processing. McBurney was physically assaulted and put in the tank, where he drowned, the family alleges.

The family is charging that McBurney died as a result of negligence of those who ran the boat, which the family says was unseaworthy.

In his deposition, Bojen said he had warned McBurney against having an affair with the woman. But he said he did not believe the captain, though angered, could have resorted to violence.

"I'm not talking about violence," Bojen said.

American Seafoods Co., the Seattle-based corporation that employed McBurney, and V.B.T.R.F., the Vladivostok-based company that owned the Solidarnost, are named as defendants in the suit.

Attorneys for V.B.T.R.F. have answered that McBurney, who had been taught ship-safety standards, had climbed into the tank himself, according to court papers. They've also said no Russian personnel working on board the boat were aware of McBurney's relationship with the woman.

The case, pending before U.S. District Judge William Dwyer, has been scheduled for mediation. But in the event no settlement is reached, a trial has been set for next July.