On ocean floor, Arctic Rose still holds its secret
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A year ago Tuesday, the Arctic Rose sank in the frigid waters of the Bering Sea, taking with it 15 men. Despite intensive investigations since, the Coast Guard likely will never know what triggered the worst U.S. fishing-vessel accident of the past half-century.
For relatives of the dead crew, the anniversary will be marked by remembrances — a trip to a cemetery plot that bears a plaque but no body, attendance at a church memorial service or a ritual sprinkling of sand. Many have pondered the events that triggered the sudden sinking. Some are haunted by dreams of what might have happened on board.
Investigators have concluded the ship probably drifted for several miles on the surface of the ocean, either capsized or on its side. Its disoriented crew may have survived for a half-hour or more, trapped in the hull.
"It's unfortunate, but it's likely that some of them would have had time to think," said Lt. Cmdr. James Robertson, who is charged with writing up a final report on the sinking for a Coast Guard Board of Investigation.
But investigators don't know what caused the boat to roll.
The report is expected to list as many as eight possible scenarios behind the sinking. Among them:
• The most likely cause was a buildup of water in the ship's 16- by 20-foot, enclosed processing area. That resulted in a dangerous, destabilizing effect as the water sloshed back and forth.
• Investigators aren't sure how water entered the processing area. But underwater videos of the wreck show the door to the tiny plant was open, so waves sloshing over the deck during an early-morning squall could have caused flooding. Or a pump that brought seawater into the factory for use during processing could have been left on, allowing water to build up to dangerous levels. A former factory foreman on the boat, Ruben Oliveres, testified that a similar mishap almost sank the boat the year before.
• Other factors that may have contributed included the relatively inexperienced crew and a skipper who was under pressure to make the Arctic Rose show a profit. Morale problems or mistakes may have compounded matters.
No major changes in sight
The Board of Investigation is charged with making recommendations to prevent similar tragedies in one of the nation's most dangerous industries. But it is not expected to use the loss of the Arctic Rose to propose mandatory vessel inspections or other major changes in the safety laws.
Instead, the board is expected to offer less-controversial safety measures that will not require congressional action. Some examples: a recommendation to simplify instructions for maintaining a vessel's stability, or that crew-survival training be mandated and conducted by certified experts.
The board's cautious approach, in part, reflects the fact that it may never prove what caused the vessel to sink. It also reflects the political power of the fishing industry, which in the past has blocked safety proposals deemed unacceptable in the world of ocean fishing.
"The legislative route is not out — if there's something that jumps out at us," said Lt. Cmdr. James Robertson, a board member. "But fishermen do not like to have excessive regulation. And there's no sense proposing new rules if the industry won't accept that."
In the 1980s, an average of more than 20 fishermen a year died off Alaska. Safety laws requiring survival suits, Coast Guard-approved life rafts and emergency locator beacons helped bring that average down in the 1990s.
Even so, since the Arctic Rose was lost, 27 more vessels have sunk off Alaska, dumping 73 crew members into the ocean. Most were rescued. Nine died from sinkings or other fishing accidents.
The Arctic Rose was part of a 25-vessel fleet that catches, cleans and freezes bottom-dwelling flatfish. The fleet faces some of the toughest working conditions in the industry and has been hit with numerous lawsuits from injured workers.
Effects, claims remain
But until the Arctic Rose, the fleet had survived the past decade without a major loss of life. Now skippers have a new sense of vulnerability.
"It clearly had an effect," said John Gauvin, director of the Groundfish Forum, an industry group representing the head-and-gut fleet. "I can guarantee that everyone is reviewing what they're doing."
David Olney, owner of the Arctic Rose, has always been hands-on and took frequent tours of duty aboard the Arctic Rose or its sister ship, Alaskan Rose. But Olney, who lost his brother Mike in the sinking, spent much of last year consumed by lawsuits and Coast Guard hearings.
Granted immunity for his testimony last November, Olney addressed the hearings choked with emotion. He told Coast Guard investigators he had made numerous modifications to the vessel in an attempt to improve its safety and that of the crew.
In February, Olney went to sea aboard the Alaskan Rose to help harvest rock sole.
The loss of the Arctic Rose has also triggered a high-stakes legal battle to determine compensation for the families of the dead crew.
Olney's company, Arctic Sole Seafoods, has settled only one of 15 claims filed by the families. A trial to determine liability for the accident is scheduled to begin Sept. 16 in U.S. District Court. If the families win, additional trials for damages or settlement negotiations will determine how the families split roughly $9.3 million in insurance money.
"We want to hold someone accountable," said Joan Branger, whose 25-year-old son, Shawn Bouchard, had his first job at sea aboard the Arctic Rose.
'It was just cold'
Branger reared her son in central Montana. He battled drug abuse while attending a North Dakota college, but by the time he shipped out on the Arctic Rose he was a devout member of the Assembly of God Church. Boucher and life-long friend Jim Mills both went to work aboard the Arctic Rose, and they died together.
Branger recalls how she begged her son to leave the ship early when he phoned home on a port call. But he said he had signed a contract and would keep his word.
"There's not a night that I don't speculate what's happened," Branger said. "I try to think of the last minutes. Was he scared? Did he cry out to God, or did Jim and him hold each other? Those are things that drive me crazy. I keep asking God to ease my pain, but so far that hasn't happened."
For others, the pain is slowly giving way.
In the weeks after the sinking, Kari Rundall, wife of skipper Dave Rundall, would lie for hours on a couch in the family's tiny home near Hilo, Hawaii. She says she had disturbing dreams of her husband standing drenched on a dock, dark, threatening skies surrounding him.
But as the months passed, Rundall says, the dream has changed. Lately, her husband has again been on the dock — but the sea around him is calm and the sun shines.
"It's OK, Kari," he tells her. "It was just cold."
The mother of three sons aged 5 to 15, Rundall hopes to use her settlement money to return to college and get a degree in psychology. She wants to become a grief counselor.
Focus shifts
Throughout its investigation, the three-man Coast Guard board has kept in close touch with the families. Twice it ventured to the site of the sinking to deploy a remote-controlled camera to survey the wreck, and each time the board telephoned ashore to set up briefings for the families.
And in Seattle last August, the board held a families-only viewing of the ghostly videotape that showed the Arctic Rose sitting upright on the seafloor, and the door to the processing area apparently tied open.
Coast Guard officials spent hours talking with Branger and other family members and appeared eager to return to the site of the wreck a third time. One plan called for sending a diver down to examine the wreck for clues to the sinking.
But the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks diverted that focus. The Coast Guard has shifted emphasis and resources to port security and away from such areas as fishing-vessel safety. The board gave up on a costly third effort to explore the Arctic Rose.
Since then, board members have struggled to complete their investigation, which originally was expected to be done this month. Now, the deadline has been pushed back to June.
The change in focus since Sept. 11 has frustrated some relatives of the lost Arctic Rose crew. "That was a real tragedy," said Kathy Meincke, mother of Jeff Meincke, a young crewman from Olympia. "But there were a lot of tragedies. It was a rough year."
Capt. Ronald Morris, chairman of the investigation board, said the Arctic Rose will not be forgotten: "Fishing safety is still an important function of the Coast Guard. And we owe this report to these families."
Hal Bernton can be reached at 206-464-2581 or hbernton@seattletimes.com. Mike Carter can be reached at 206-464-3706 or mcarter@seattletimes.com.