One person is dead and another is injured after a 58-foot seine vessel, the F/V VIS, struck a 20-foot Hewescraft skiff near Petersburg in Southeast Alaska. The accident occurred on the morning of June 5 in the Wrangell Narrows between Kupreanof and Mitkof Islands. According to local media, the VIS struck the Hewescraft in a t-bone collision. It is unclear whether the Hewescraft was underway at the time of the accident. The cause of the accident remains under investigation.
The injured boater from the Hewescraft was rescued from the water by a nearby good Samaritan vessel. The survivor was taken to shore and eventually transported to the Petersburg Medical Center. The individual suffered minor injuries and showed symptoms of hypothermia.
Divers from Petersburg Search and Rescue recovered the body of the deceased individual from the Hewescraft. The U.S. Coast Guard, Wrangell Search and Rescue, the Alaska State Troopers, and the Petersburg Police Department also participated in the response. No injuries were reported to crew aboard the VIS.
Based on information from the Alaska Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission, The VIS is homeported in Ketchikan, Alaska. The vessel fishes under longline and seine permits.