WASHINGTON (June 12, 2025) — An Alaskan fish tender transiting Chiniak Bay to dump fish byproduct sank in part because the vessel’s watertight doors in the engine room and companionway spaces remained open, the National Transportation Safety Board said Thursday.
The
industrial vessel Cape Douglas was operating as fish tender on Nov. 6, 2024, near Kodiak, Alaska, when the 80-year-old vessel began to flood below deck. The captain and crewmember were unable to control the flooding and abandoned the vessel into a towed skiff. They were rescued by a Good Samaritan vessel. The Cape Douglas sank with an estimated 400-600 gallons of diesel fuel on board. It was not recovered and declared a total loss valued at $250,000.
Investigators found that the flooding might have been contained if the watertight doors were secured. “Maintaining watertight integrity of a vessel is a fundamental principle of safe operations on water,” the report said. “Within the hull, watertight bulkheads and watertight doors are designed to prevent progressive flooding by containing any incoming water to the compromised space.”
The captain observed flooding about 15 minutes after opening the inlet valve for the seawater pump. The crew was intending to use the vessel’s deck washdown system to loosen fish byproduct and wash it overboard. The investigation found that the flooding was likely caused by a system piping or component failure of the washdown system, which was at least 25 years old and had not been used or tested for at least two years before the sinking, according to the captain’s statements.
Before the sinking, the vessel had visual signs of rust and deterioration, and, along with documented hull wastage, suggested a general degradation of the vessel and onboard systems, such as the deck washdown system. About seven months before the sinking, the City of Kodiak harbormaster raised concerns about the vessel’s condition.
Marine Investigation Report 25-22 is available online.
To report an incident/accident or if you are a public safety agency, please call 1-844-373-9922 or 202-314-6290 to speak to a Watch Officer at the NTSB Response Operations Center (ROC) in Washington, DC (24/7).
