Sea Grant offers resources for surviving North Pacific

Alaska Newspapers

May 22, 2008 at 11:47AM AKST

Five crewmembers died when the fishing vessel Alaska Ranger sank in March in the Bering Sea, a jolting reminder that mariners must be prepared for the worst.

A surviving crewmember of the Alaska Ranger told investigators that no one assigned to his life raft knew how to deploy it. Another crewmember died after falling out of a Coast Guard helicopter rescue basket. Problems with immersion suits may have contributed to other deaths.

Solid safety training reduces the number of these tragedies. Mariners can easily get that training in Alaska, including complete instruction on how to use life rafts, execute rescues by helicopters, and use and care for immersion suits, from the Alaska Marine Safety Education Association.

In addition to providing complete marine-safety training programs, the association teams with the Alaska Sea Grant College Program at the University of Alaska Fairbanks School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences to produce publications and videos that provide information crucial to safety at sea.

Available materials
AMSEA marine safety training materials are available from Alaska Sea Grant and at the AMSEA office in Sitka at (907) 747-3287:

“Beating the Odds on Northern Waters: A Guide to Fishing Safety” (book)
Hundreds of safety trainers, including the U.S. Coast Guard, have relied on this illustrated book as their primary reference and teaching tool. Among other Coast Guard-approved safety information, the book includes step-by-step directions on conducting federally required safety drills. Authors explain how fishermen can prevent and survive accidents, maintain safety gear and train crew so that problems don’t escalate into disaster.

“Rescues at Sea: A Guide to Helicopter Rescues and Dewatering Pumps” (video)
This video shows how to prepare for helicopter arrival, medical evacuation procedures and dewatering pump delivery.

“Survival at Sea Series”
Four marine safety DVDs are available in one box for a discount over individual prices: “A Matter of Survival” (26 minutes), “When Seconds Count: The Care and Use of Immersion Suits” (15 minutes), “Beating the Odds: Onboard Emergency Drills” (32 minutes), and “Rescues at Sea: A Guide to Helicopter Rescues and Dewatering Pumps” (24 minutes).

“Care and Use of Immersion Suits” (video)
Aware that immersion suits are required on board most fishing vessels, many fishermen buy the suits without making sure they fit and pay little attention to how they can use them to save a life. “This video tells what features to look for when purchasing an immersion suit, how to put one on, how to use it, and how to take care of it.

“Marine Survival Equipment and Maintenance” (video and workbook)
This book and video set explains how to choose, install, use and maintain emergency equipment that is required by law aboard commercial fishing vessels.

“Fishing Vessel Stability: Operational Practices” (video)
Stability problems account for 35 percent of all vessel losses. This video outlines nine factors that affect operational stability of small fishing vessels-proper loading, free surface effect, watertight integrity, icing, lifting loads, shifting loads, weight creep, hang-ups and heavy seas and suggests procedures to enhance stability and improve safety conditions.

“A Matter of Survival: Life Raft Survival Pack” (video)
This training video demonstrates the proper use of the contents of a life raft survival equipment pack, and tells how the equipment can be upgraded.

“Beating the Odds” (video)
Demonstrates the safety equipment required by law on fishing vessels, and demonstrates how to conduct safety drills with vessel crews.

“Flooding Control” (video)
Half of all vessels lost at sea sink because of uncontrolled flooding. This video shows how to prevent flooding, describes equipment and procedures to have in place before flooding and explains emergency flooding control techniques.