Both the Transportation Safety Board and the U.S. Coast Guard are investigating a deadly collision between two fishing boats off the coast of Washington state Friday.
It was foggy 4: 30 Friday morning when the 27-metre Canadian boat Viking Storm hit the drifting 12-metre U.S. fishing vessel Maverick, the U.S. Coast Guard said.
The Maverick went down quickly about 30 nautical miles west of La Push, on the northern coast of Washington. Only three of the four people on board survived.
The missing crewman, Kelly Dickerson, was in a room in the forward part of the ship. The Maverick sank bow first.
"He was trapped," Lt. Cmdr. Matthew Denning, chief of marine investigation in Seattle said Monday.
At least one other crew member was trapped as well, but made it out by breaking a window. The three survivors landed in the water without time to put on life-jackets or survival suits.
"They narrowly escaped," Denning said.
They were picked up within five minutes by the crew of the Viking Storm.
The U.S. Coast Guard received an emergency beacon signal from the Maverick about the same time the Viking Storm reported the collision in the Pacific.
Coast guard boats and a helicopter looked for more than a day before the search was suspended Saturday. Dickerson, 32, was presumed drowned.
His father, Darby Dickerson, 66, of Port Angeles, was the owner and captain of the Maverick and was on watch at the time of the collision. The long-liner, home port Seattle, had been out fishing for black cod.
The Viking Storm, home port Vancouver, had a full load of hagfish caught in Canadian waters that it was taking to Grays Harbor.
Both vessels had radar operating. "Fog was a significant factor," Denning said. "Visibility was certainly an issue."
