The 60 foot long fishing vessel Pacific Rim sank off Westport, Washington. The Pacific Rim had struck a submerged object tearing a hole in the hull. Unable to control the water ingress, the Pacific Rim sent out a distress call. The Coast Guard responded quickly and rescued the single person on board. He was later taken to hospital for treatment for hypothermia. Reports state the Pacific Rim had some 250 gallons of diesel fuel on board.
On October 20, the 26 meter long wooden fishing vessel Jorge Seif Junior capsized and sank off Imbituba, Brazil. The trawler with 24 crew on board had lost stability while fishing in bad weather with strong winds and waves reaching 5 meters high. Nearby vessels were alerted by the trawler’s EPIRB and responded to the distress call. The 153 meter long cargo vessel BBC Citrine was first to be on scene and rescued 18 crew from the water. The BBC Citrine proceeded to head for Itaguai while other vessels searched for the remaining 6 crew of the Jorge Seif Junior. Reports state that one crew man rescued from the water died from injuries before reaching Itaguai.
The 136 meter long, 3685 dwt passenger ship KM Lambelu ran aground near Tarakan Island, Indonesia. The vessel departed with 576 passengers bound for Port Tunontaka Nunukan. While off Tarakan, the KM Lambelu was forced to conduct an emergency maneuver to avoid striking the anchored coal barge MV Sea Opal. The KM Lambelu was able to avoid the barge, but the passenger ship steered into shallow waters of just 2 to 3 meters in depth. No reports of injuries.
Reports states that all the passengers from the KM Lambelu were safely evacuated. Using five rescue boats, the passengers were taken to Port Malundung. Four tugboats were dispatched to the scene. Their initial attempts to pull the KM Lambelu to deeper water were not successful. Reports state further attempts to free the passenger ship will be made.
