Ex-captain of ship counters others in probe

SEATTLE – Contradicting earlier witnesses, a former captain of the ill-fated fishing vessel Alaska Ranger insisted Friday that a “fish master” never actually commanded the vessel and declared that the ship sailed carefully through any pack ice it encountered.

Steve Slotvig did concede that after one final argument with the Alaska Ranger’s fish master, Satoshi Konno, of Japan, he had asked to be relieved of command in early March and transferred to another fishing vessel.

The captain who replaced him, Eric Peter Jacobsen, of Lynnwood, Wash., was one of five people killed when the Alaska Ranger sank March 23 in the Bering Sea. Konno is also believed to be one of those fatalities, although his body was never found. Forty-two crew members were rescued.

Coast Guard and National Transportation Safety Board investigators hoped Slotvig could provide information about the ship’s operations that would help establish the cause of the sinking.

A pressing question: What role did Konno play in the wheelhouse?

Konno was never in command, Slotvig said. Without a license, the fish master could not set the boat’s speed or heading except under direction from a licensed officer.

“He managed the fishing operations. He directed the vessel, directed where we fished,” Slotvig said.

On Wednesday, crew members who survived the sinking portrayed Konno as a powerful figure.

The fish master represents the Japanese fish buyer, and does not work directly for the Seattle-based Fishing Co. of Alaska, which owned the vessel, according to John Neeleman, a lawyer representing the company.

A previous witness testified that Konno had raced the boat through rough, broken pack ice on the way back to Dutch Harbor, Alaska, on a trip preceding the fatal voyage.

“The captain was asleep, and we were getting ready to go in” to port, Ryan Shuck, 31, of Spokane, testified Wednesday. “Konno decided he wanted to go faster, so he sped the boat up.”

Shuck added that the captain came out of his cabin and confronted Konno, describing the two as “yelling and screaming at each other about how fast we were going through the ice. It ended up with them chest to chest, huffing and puffing at each other.”

Asked about that account Friday, Slotvig said no such event occurred. He did acknowledge that he and Konno argued occasionally.

The breaking point came dockside as the Alaska Ranger was preparing to leave Dutch Harbor on March 5, Slotvig said. Delayed by a late grocery delivery, Konno became angry and took it out on Slotvig, the former captain said.

“I needed a break. I’d been out there a long time, and when he got angry with me I asked to be put on another vessel and relieved,” he said.

The board is trying to determine if the impact of ice chunks could have weakened the hull, leading to the flooding that sank the Alaska Ranger. The vessel was on its way to mackerel grounds when it began taking on water through the rudder room.

Slotvig told the inquiry board the boat sailed through ice in a careful, deliberate manner. Sliding along the hull, the ice made a constant scraping noise, he said, but added he never heard any vibrations or banging noises.

During one heated moment, Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Benjamin Hawkins accused Neeleman, the ship owner’s lawyer, of coaching Slotvig, specifically on his description of the ice as scraping and not banging against the hull.

“For the record, I categorically deny that,” Neeleman told the inquiry board.

Several witnesses have reported there was drinking on board, despite the ship owner’s zero-tolerance policy on drugs and alcohol.

Slotvig said Friday he knew of reports of drinking, and said that he had warned one crew member.

Investigators are trying to confirm whether the boat began to go in reverse after it lost power, as several witnesses have testified. If the stern was sitting low from taking on water, going in reverse might have sealed the boat’s fate.

The hearing continues today.