The captain of a commercial fishing vessel that sank off the coast of Alaska last week is being credited with saving the lives of his crews.
The 75-foot fishing vessel Alaska Belle went down in the Gulf of Alaska on Tuesday. There were three people on the vessel – Capt. Robert Royer and three crewmembers. As the vessel began to tilt, Royer managed to send out an emergency distress signal to the Coast Guard. Just a few seconds later, the captain fell overboard as the vessel began to capsize. According to the crewmembers, he did not surface.
The crewmembers swam around in the ocean for more than three hours till Coast Guard air crews arrived. According to the four crewmembers, the Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon did not emit a signal. That means that if Royers had not made that frantic call to the Coast Guard, there would have been no way that rescue crews would have known where to find the crewmembers. They would not have been able to survive much longer in the frigid waters of the Gulf of Alaska.
The crewmembers owe a huge debt to the captain, who proved himself a hero in more ways than one. As maritime lawyers, we believe the investigation must focus on the malfunctioning device. These devices are meant to transfer signals that can help emergency crews identify the location of the distressed crews, thereby facilitating rescue efforts. If these devices are defective or malfunctioning, then they are pretty much useless, and can gravely endanger the lives of crewmembers.
