Coast Guard blames, could impose fine on doomed vessel owner

There was outrage and sorrow from family members of the doomed Seattle-based fishing boat, Destination as the Coast Guard released a final report that largely blames the owner and the captain for the tragedy.

The Destination sank under the weight of too much ice, heavy crab pots and a crew that was too fatigued. This is the Coast Guard's conclusion after two weeks of hearings last summer.

Scroll down to continue reading

More news from KIRO 7

DOWNLOAD OUR FREE NEWS APP

The Coast Guard is considering imposing civil penalties on the vessel's owner. But the mother of one of the dead crew members says that is not enough.

"I feel that a bit of closure is that the owner of the boat is going to take some responsibility on this," said Judy Hamik.

She stood alongside her husband, Tom, on this chilly Sunday, more than two long years in the making.  The last fateful moments in the lives of her son and his fellow Destination crew members still so fresh.

"When they left Dutch Harbor, they had their bait on," said Hamik, her voice breaking. "But they were told to bring extra bait."

She says the boat was overloaded under orders from owner David Wilson and over the objections of the captain.

"He did not want to take the extra bait," said Hamik. "But he was the good Samaritan of the fleet and took the bait for other vessels."

"He was forced to?" asked her husband, prompting her. "Yes, he was told," she said.

The doomed vessel sank 25 months ago in the ice-cold waters of the Bering Sea. The U. S. Coast Guard held two weeks of hearings in Seattle last August into what brought the Destination down.

"Since 1993, some changes had been made to the vessel," said Capt. Lee Boone. "Those should have been incorporated into the updated stability instructions."

The Coast Guard's chief investigator blamed the vessel's lack of stability, its heavy load, and a crew too fatigued to beat off a thick coating of ice on that cold February day in the Bering Sea.

"In this case," said Boone, "because it was early in the morning, the report concludes that the crew were likely sleeping and perhaps were not on the deck removing the ice that would have prevented that stability poor stability condition from occurring."

"That's where it all started," said Hamik. "It was a domino effect."

That fact, says Hamik, is why she believes the owner should be charged with a crime.

"Because I feel that they would be here today," she said, "if that stability would have been done."

To be sure, the Coast Guard also placed blame on the captain, Jeff Hathaway, for overloading the vessel and for ignoring weather reports that predicted the icy conditions in the Bering Sea.

But the captain died, too. Now the investigators are recommending the Coast Guard slap the owner with a civil fine for not doing enough to make sure his vessel was stable.

Cox Media Group