About 0155 local time on March 9, 2019, the commercial fishing vessel Freyja was longline fishing in the Bering Sea near Point Tebenkof, Unalaska Island, Alaska, when the vessel grounded and remained stranded on the rocks. The four crewmembers abandoned the vessel and swam to a nearby Good Samaritan vessel. The vessel was considered a total loss, with damage estimates at $550,000. There were no reports of injuries or pollution.

​​​The probable cause of the grounding of the fishing vessel Freyja was the failure of the deckhand on watch to monitor the vessel’s track as a result of falling asleep due to an accumulated sleep deficit and the vessel owner’s lack of countermeasures to mitigate crewmember fatigue.

​Fatigue Countermeasures

As the NTSB has previously noted in numerous commercial fishing vessel accidents, crew fatigue is a significant contributing causal factor. An effective way to prevent fatigue among crewmembers is for owners/operators to have measures in place to ensure that crewmembers receive enough rest to adequately perform navigational and lookout duties.

Immersion Suits

Marine safety training and periodic drills are designed to provide crewmembers with the knowledge and skills they need to respond to vessel emergencies. For lifesaving equipment to be effective, vessel owners/captains should ensure that each individual on board is aware of how to don an immersion suit or other personal flotation device, and understands how to use the equipment correctly. It is also the responsibility of each crewmember to ensure that immersion suits are the proper size, in serviceable condition, and readily accessible.