What happened to the Destination, the 110-foot-long fishing boat that sank without so much as a Mayday in the Bering Sea on Feb. 11, 2017, killing all six men on board? The captain and crew were all veteran crab fishermen, many with decades of experience in the frigid waters off Alaska, some of the most unforgiving fishing grounds on the planet. But they all suddenly disappeared in 32-degree water; none were ever found.
The only indication of any problem was the boat’s EPIRB transmission that the Coast Guard heard about 6:30 in the morning. The Coast Guard then tried to raise the Destination on the VHF, but with no success, so it then launched a search plane and asked another fishing boat nearby to go to the EPIRB’s location. All they found was the EPIRB and an oil slick.
The Coast Guard searched for days and found absolutely nothing. In July, they located the boat under 250 feet of water, about two miles from where they found the EPIRB (see the photo, above). They then launched an investigation that lasted ten days and involved 44 people. Its report will be issued later this year.
The only possible clues are that the boat’s rudder had occasionally stuck in the past, causing a sudden turn. Indeed, the boat’s AIS track showed it made a sharp 270-degree turn before the EPIRB went off. And it may have been overloaded with crab pots.
But the mystery remains: What happened so fast and so tragically that six experienced fishermen could not even broadcast a Mayday? What happened to the Destination? Read more, in a great story from Outside, here:
https://www.outsideonline.com/2287116/unsolved-mystery-disappearing-fishing-boat
