56 dead in sinking of Russian Trawler - 4/2/2015

[Maria]

Death Toll in Sinking of Russian Ship Rises to at Least 56

By ANDREW ROTH

APRIL 2, 2015

MOSCOW — Russian emergency workers frantically plucked bodies from the freezing Sea of Okhotsk on Thursday after a refrigerated trawling ship sank in Russia’s Far East, killing at least 56 of a crew of 132.

Helicopters and dozens of ships were mustered for a large-scale rescue operation that continued into Friday morning off the Kamchatka Peninsula, where 13 members of the crew were still missing. Sixty-three sailors were rescued from the icy waters, and the bodies of 56 crew members were recovered.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/03/world ... pe=article

Lord have mercy.

[Barbara]

Sad ! Let's hope that more survivors have been found safe.

I wonder what caused the vessel to go down ?
At first, I wondered from the headline of the thread whether or not the tragedy was due to some kind of sabotage or armed attack.

[Maria]

It appears from reading the article that there were weight and other safety violations.
They had too large of a catch.

[Barbara]

Ah - their cup ranneth over, but in a literal and SAD sense !
I am sorry to hear this. I hope this fleet and all seagoing vessels throughout the world will learn from this tragedy.
After all, humans tend to get lax about regulations and assume that they themselves will be OK even though something is endangering safety.

One has to discern which rules to follow strictly and which can be stretched, a little, depending on specific circumstances.
Maybe the fleet was out on the Sea of Okhotsk for too much time but didn't want to waste time going back to port to unload ?
That would be understandable according to humans' normal logic.

I bet there were problems such as lacking proper maintenance, or letting parts get old and rot. I can imagine that sea air would corrode almost any bolts or metal pieces !

I did not read the article, one can probably see ! I would like to have more of some stories, but too much dislike going to websites of that newspaper and many of the main outlets.

Too bad Alexander isn't here to make intelligent comments with his naval experience !