A crew member aboard the American Seafoods factory trawler died in the sea last week, possibly due to an ammonia leak aboard.
U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Second Class John Highwater said they received an emergency satellite message coming from Northern Eagle at about 4 a.m. Friday.
“One of crew members was discovered unconscious inside one of their engineer rooms,” Highwater said. “They believe that there may have been an ammonia leak within the vessel which led to the person falling unconscious.”
Jeremy Baum, the Alaska Wildlife Trooper who was stationed at Unalaska/Dutch Harbor The crew member was identified as the First Engineer David Kuma from Ghana, in West Africa.
Forty-three-year-old Kuma was discovered unresponsive shortly at 12 a.m. in the morning, as per Highwater.
The vessel, which was nearly 350 feet long, was already on its way to Unalaska/Dutch Harbor at the time they called the Coast Guard. Highwater claimed it would take Coast Guard crew longer to reach the vessel than it took for the trawler’s journey to the port.
Unalaska’s Chief of Fire Ben Knowles said the Northern Eagle arrived in Unalaska about 5.30 a.m. the following day about 24 hours following the distress call. After that, the incident was handed over to local authorities.
“The firefighters together with NOAA and The U.S. Coast Guard Marine Safety Detachment and the Alaska State Troopers boarded the vessel about 6 a.m. After they had all been tied up and began an probe into the accident.” stated Knowles.
He added that Kuma was declared dead shortly after reaching the port. Unalaska Fire Department Unalaska Fire Department assisted troopers in their investigation, offered the necessary decontamination services and provided counselling for grieving vessels according to Knowles.
“We were in a position to conduct some listening sessions and be sure that all crew members be able to speak to someone,” he said.
American Seafoods brought Kuma’s family to the island, as per Knowles.
“We are here to provide assistance to those in need,” he said. “And we hope that they will find some relief from this situation.”
The Coast Guard, troopers and NOAA Enforcement are investigating the incident.
Kuma’s corpse was transferred off on the island for transport to the State Medical Examiner’s Office on Tuesday to undergo an autopsy, According to wildlife trooper Baum.
American Seafoods declined a request for clarification.
