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FCA Sold To Other Seafood Companies, But Investigation Continues For Sunken Trawler

U.S. Coast Guard District 17

After more than 30 years in the seafood industry, the Fishing Company of Alaska (FCA) was bought out last month, ending its long and often difficult presence at the Port of Dutch Harbor.

The company is still under investigation, though, after one of its vessels sank off the Aleutian Islands last summer.

Lt. James Daugherty said the U.S. Coast Guard's probe has gone on, regardless of the sale.  

“We’re concerned with why the Alaska Juris sank," said Daugherty. "There are bigger questions than what happens with the company -- like industry standards or Coast Guard standards -- so we continue on as is."

That means reviewing maintenance records and inspection logs for the Juris, which took on water in July and forced 46 crew members to abandon ship in the Bering Sea.

All were rescued safely, and Daugherty said many have since given valuable testimony about what happened that day.

“Several crew members testified there was water billowing up on the starboard side of the engine room, coming from under the deck plates," he said. "The chief engineer talked about the bilge pumps during his testimony, and those are things that we have to consider.”

The Coast Guard is also considering whether company culture played a part in the accident.

FCA was held responsible for failing to maintain the Alaska Spirit, which caught fire in 1995. The company also lost five crew members when another boat -- the Alaska Ranger -- sank in 2008.

Now, the company’s surviving vessels will continue to fish under new ownership.

Ocean Peace has purchased two of FCA’s three factory trawlers -- the Alaska Victory and the Alaska Warrior -- while the O’Hara Corporation has acquired the Alaska Spirit. All of the boats come with quota for Pacific Ocean perch, Atka mackerel, and sole.

Neither buyer has shared the price of the sale, but Ocean Peace CEO Michael Faris said they’d been thinking about it for six years and working towards it since last February.

Faris said he's very happy the Victory is already fishing in Alaska waters, with most of its original crew.  

“We did put some of our people onboard in the wheelhouse and other management places to get things -- let’s say -- up to par with the way we’re comfortable having them,” he said.

Ocean Peace is also upgrading the vessels themselves. The Warrior is being tweaked in Ketchikan before it begins fishing next month, and the company will replace the factories on both trawlers this summer.

“We just have to use the vessels are see where upgrades are needed," said Faris. "But I think a lot of money will be going into each of these vessels to get them to the place where we’re real comfortable with them.”

Meanwhile, officials with the O’Hara Corporation said their purchase came to them in good condition.

The new owners made a few minor adjustments to the Alaska Spirit, but they haven’t planned any extensive upgrades yet. The Spirit is already out fishing with its original crew. 

Laura Kraegel reported for KUCB from 2016 until 2020. She was KUCB's news director starting in 2019. We are proud to have her back in the spring of 2023 filling in as an interim reporter for KUCB.
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