A troller with two people on board almost sank about 30 miles west of Wrangell Wednesday night.
Coast Guard spokesman David Mosley says the Carrie Arlene’s crew donned survival suits after rough weather threatened the 36-foot troller. He says they expected they might have to abandon ship.
“There were 3 to 4- foot waves that were crashing into the boat and over the boat and causing it to take water. There wasn’t any report of damage to the hull itself. It was more the elements coming against the vessel there and causing it to start sinking.”
They put out a distress call via VHF radio, and the Coast Guard responded with an urgent call for assistance.
A nearby ship, the 65-foot Arik, responded and towed the troller to a protected cove. Its one-man crew helped restart the Carrie Arlene’s engine and electronics, so the water could be pumped out.
Mosely did not have the names of the crew on either ship.
Ed Schoenfeld is Regional News Director for CoastAlaska, a consortium of public radio stations in Ketchikan, Juneau, Sitka, Petersburg and Wrangell.
He primarily covers Southeast Alaska regional topics, including the state ferry system, transboundary mining, the Tongass National Forest and Native corporations and issues.
He has also worked as a manager, editor and reporter for the Juneau Empire newspaper and Juneau public radio station KTOO. He’s also reported for commercial station KINY in Juneau and public stations KPFA in Berkley, WYSO in Yellow Springs, Ohio, and WUHY in Philadelphia. He’s lived in Alaska since 1979 and is a contributor to Alaska Public Radio Network newscasts, the Northwest (Public Radio) News Network and National Native News. He is a board member of the Alaska Press Club. Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, he lives in Douglas.
