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<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   Related Stories • Investigation into fishing boat sinking continues 4/15/08   CONTACT THE HERALD Do you have a news tip? newstips@heraldnet.com | 425.339.3400   Published: Monday, March 31, 2008 Fishing boat crewman recalls last images of those who died Associated Press DUTCH HARBOR, Alaska -- Crewman Julio Morales had been working on the Alaska Ranger for less than a month when the alarm sounded, he said Sunday. At first, he didn't recognize the sound as the alarm until his cousin told him to get out of his bunk because there was an emergency, Morales said, during the third day of board hearings convened in Dutch Harbor to look into the sinking of the vessel a week ago in which five people died. The Seattle-based Alaska Ranger left Dutch Harbor shortly after noon March 22 and had traveled about 120 miles when water flooded the boat. The bodies of Captain Eric Peter Jacobsen, chief engineer Daniel Cook, crewmates David Silveira and Byron Carrillo were recovered. The body of Satoshi Konno of Japan has not been found. The Coast Guard and the Alaska Ranger's sister ship, the Alaska Warrior, rescued 42 other crewmen. Morales, testifying before the Marine Board of Investigation, said he went to the galley and was ordered to the wheelhouse to get on his survival suit. Morales said he didn't have difficulty getting into the suit but discovered there were holes in it near the left wrist. He felt water in the leg as soon as he entered the sea, he said. He said he saw another cousin, Byron Carrillo, with his hair all over his face and told him to get his hair into his suit. He said it was Byron's first trip on the vessel. Morales said he saw Konno, the fish master, on the bridge with his survival suit partially donned. He said he was smoking a cigarette and appeared to be calm. Morales said he did not see Konno in the water. Konno was reported missing after the vessel sank. The crewman testified that there may have been as much as 2 inches of ice covering the deck and the rails of the ship, and it was very cold and slippery. The Alaska Ranger began to list to starboard about 10 degrees. Shortly after, Morales said the water began washing over the vessel's trawl deck and the vessel rolled. After that, it did not right itself. Morales said he had received training on how to put on a survival suit but not on what to do in the water. He went directly into the water by sliding down the vessel. Morales did not make it to a life raft. He watched the vessel sink while in the water. "I could see the bow side close to me," he said. "I was afraid it would take me down with it." Morales said a Coast Guard helicopter picked up crewman Juan Barrios first. Then the helicopter dropped a life raft and Morales and two other crewmen climbed in. Then they were hoisted to safety. "I was the last to get in the helicopter," he said. Once in the helicopter, the rescue swimmer returned with Silveira. "I could tell he was dead," Morales said. Morales said he saw cuts in the legs of the survival suit Silveira was wearing.

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