On August 7, 2022, about 0700 local time, while transiting along the northwestern shore of Kodiak Island, Alaska, the fishing vessel Challenger struck a submerged rock and began taking on water. The captain and three crewmembers used onboard pumps to remove the floodwater, but the pumps were unable to keep up, and the crew abandoned the vessel. A nearby Good Samaritan fishing vessel rescued them. The Challenger eventually capsized. There were no injuries, and no pollution was reported. Damage to the vessel was estimated at $600,000.
We determined that the probable cause of the grounding of the fishing vessel Challenger was the captain’s decision to navigate close to shore in an area known to him to have an uncharted rock. Contributing to the capsizing of the vessel was the lack of a watertight collision bulkhead and subdivision or compartmentalization below the main deck, which allowed for progressive flooding.
