Expedition seeks to locate crab boat that sank off Alaska

A tug operated by US-based salvage company Paradigm Marine has embarked on an expedition to attempt to locate a fishing vessel that sank in Alaskan waters on December 31, 2019.

The crew of the salvage tug Endurance (pictured) will use their vessel’s sonar and a camera-equipped remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to search for the wreck of the crab boat Scandies Rose, which is believed to have sunk to a depth of 50 metres some eight kilometres off Alaska’s Sutwik Island.

Any underwater images and other data gathered during the expedition will be handed over to the US Coast Guard’s Marine Board of Investigation. Depending on the coast guard’s assessment of Scandies Rose‘s condition, the vessel’s owners will decide whether the wreck will be moved or instead left undisturbed where it lies to serve as a memorial to the five fishermen who perished when it sank.

Only two of the crab boat’s crew survived the sinking and were later rescued while no trace of the five missing fishermen was ever found.