SEATTLE — The Coast Guard has completed its investigation into the Jan. 8, 2019, loss of the commercial fishing vessel MARY B II on the Yaquina Bay Bar near Newport.
The Coast Guard convened a Board of Investigation, which held one public hearing session the week of May 13-17, 2019, in Newport. A copy of the Report of Investigation into this casualty can be viewed at the following link.
This took way way too long. It has been almost 5 years since the Coast Guard hearings into this accident were held. Yes, the pandemic intervened. But 5 years was still too long to convert a week-long hearing into a report. And a cursory glance indicates the commandant of the Coast Guard is resistant to some of the recommendations.
I’ve now skimmed the report, and a new thing I see is that they recommend going after the drugged up skipper’s mother, who owned the boat, for violations of federal law. And they would have recommended criminal prosecution of the skipper if he was still alive.
Appreciate the brief, Lee. Wasn’t about to read the full report. Drugs and alcohol have no place at sea, that’s for certain.