Respect voor die bemanning van de heli. Je ziet het, ik heb een keer meegevlogen met een vliegtuig gestationeerd op Ameland dat ook wel eens meezocht naar drenkelingen. Ik kan me zo maar voorstellen dat je zo'n raft mist, vooral al je al een tijdje aan het zoeken bent.
De kans om iets te spotten vanuit een heli is veel gtroter.
Jammer dat de audio in het derde filmpje zo slecht is. Wat ik er uit begreep is dat de Raften oud waren en verre van stabiel, waardoor zeven drenkelingen er niet in zijn geslaagd, nadat één raft meteen al weggeblazen werd, een raft te bereiken. Men heeft warmteverlies beperkt door over elkaar te urineren en uitgeademde lucht in elkaars overlevingspak te blazen. Er was geen satelliettelefoon aanwezig waardoor slechts communicatie met een ander vissersschip kon worden gerealiseerd, die het opgevangen noodbericht doorzond naar de coast guard.
Ik spreek regelmatig mensen van de Nederlandse Kustwacht wiens favoriete programma Deadliest Catch is en bij het zien van de opnamen houden we af en toe het hart vast bij de werkwijze en werktijden van deze goedverdiende, maar volgens mij knettergekke vissers.
Katmai Sinking Blamed On Bad Judgment
Amy Radil
05/10/2010 ShareThis
The US Coast Guard has released its final report on the 2008 sinking of the Seattle–based Katmai fishing boat.
TRANSCRIPT
The Coast Guard investigation of the Katmai sinking faults the captain's decision to head into a major storm, while carrying double the ship's recommended load of fish. The report finds those decisions, plus the fact that watertight doors were not secured, caused the sinking that killed seven of the 11 crew members. The four survivors spent 16 harrowing hours on a life raft that repeatedly flipped over before being rescued.
Shara Martindale is the mother of Jake Gilman, one of the crew members who died. She says the report contained no surprises at this point, and she places the blame squarely on the ship's captain, Henry Blake.
Martindale: "If they had not driven into a hurricane, they would not be dead."
But the report also highlights the general lack of regulations for smaller fishing vessels. The report contains some of the same recommendations that were made after the sinking of the Seattle–based Arctic Rose in 2001. Martindale says she hopes to advocate for changes in the wake of her son's death.
Martindale: "It's frustrating to see recommendations not implemented, especially when people do keep dying."
A bill to allow licensing and inspections of boats like the Katmai has passed the US House of Representatives, but stalled in the Senate. Coast Guard officials say the legislation is currently before the subcommittee chaired by Washington Senator Maria Cantwell.
Coast Guard Commander Rob McLellan chaired the Katmai investigation. He says new regulations could also prevent the fatigue that may have hindered the crew's decision making.
McLellan: "If the master had been licensed, he'd have to meet minimum sleep periods, you can work a maximum number of hours in the day. In this case based on testimony the crew were working anywhere from 18, some cases, 24 hours a day."
McLellan says only the lifesaving equipment on these smaller vessels is subject to regulation. The Coast Guard is developing some new safety rules on its own, while it asks Congress for authority to license and inspect smaller fishing boats.
KUOW News.
