The offshore scallop dragger Dictator is owned by Tim Harper of Southwest Harbor, who has employed Curtis to run the boat since 1997. Curtis is from Union but keeps the boat in New Bedford, Mass., to be closer to the fishing grounds. After the collision, the Dictator was towed to the Dorchester Shipyard in Maurice River Town- ship, N.J. The Dictator was fishing and had gear in the water at the time it was struck on the stern by the container ship Florida, on Tuesday, April 14. The Coast Guard received a call from the Dictator at 2:21 p.m. The collision occurred 47 miles off the coast of Cape May, N.J. The weather was terrible, said Curtis, with heavy rain and fog, visibility of only about a half-mile, and a 20- to 30-mph easterly. The conditions impeded the Dictator’s radar range and resolution to just a mile or two. The crew on the Dictator were on their rotation schedule, with half the crew at work fishing and the other half asleep; the mate, who is Curtis’s son, was in the wheelhouse on watch. Curtis was just getting ready to take over wheelhouse duty when the collision occurred. “The biggest thing is, we were so, so, so lucky,” he said. “Unbelievably lucky.” With the gear’s tow wires still in the water, the Dictator had limited maneuverability. Although the boat was moving at five or six knots, there was little they could do when the container ship loomed over them without warning. Curtis’ mate saw the ship at the last minute and cut the wheel hard to port, but was unable to move the Dictator out of the way. He was thrown across the house. The Dictator was fishing in an area that is closed to groundfishing but open to scallopers. Curtis said that, within six miles, he counted about 50 scallop boats in the area at the time. At the same time, container ships are allowed to transit the area, moving through the scallop fleet. “The government needs to have shipping lanes that are outside the fishing boats,” said Curtis. Curtis said the container ships go through “like freight trains.” “These ships should not be blasting down through us,” he said. The strike to the stern damaged the Dictator’s rudder, wheel, and shaft, and knocked the engine off its bed about 2 inches. The Florida, a United Kingdom-flagged merchant vessel, did not stop immediately, he said, and was apparently unaware of the collision until another fishing boat contacted it several miles on. “We’re like a little lobster buoy to him,” he said. Curtis scrambled his way to the wheelhouse. “All I saw was this great, big, huge ship going down the side of us,” he said. “Water was coming over the stern from his wake, and he squirted us out from under his bow.” The Dictator was a mess. The crew were all knocked down, a couple with gashes and major blows to their heads. Equipment and gear were knocked all over the boat, the boats alarms were going off, and the stern and the entire driveline wre stove in. “It was a nightmare,” Curtis said. Thanks to Curtis’s requirement that his crew take safety training, everyone worked well together during the next minutes. Curtis immediately sent out a Mayday, and everyone put on their survival suits. “A lot of things saved our lives,” he said. “There was a big angel overhead.” Once the Mayday went out, other fishing boats in the area were on the scene within minutes. One boat was equipped with an Automatic Identification System, which gives detailed information on marine traffic, and Curtis was told that the Florida was traveling at 18 knots in a 10-knot zone. “Something has to be done about this,” Curtis said. “We’re an 85-foot steel boat. If they can’t see us, they’re not going to see a 45-foot fiberglass boat. It’s scary.” For Curtis, 49, fishing is a family affair--three of his children are part of his crew. “I’ve been doing this all my life, and nothing like this has ever happened before,” he said. Investigators later praised Curtis and his crew for doing everything right. Curtis said he was told that their conduct will be incorporated as a model for safety procedure by an offshore survival training outfit. Officially, the cause of the accident remains under investigation, said Etta Smith, U.S. Coast Guard public affairs officer. The Coast Guard diverted a C-130 aircrew from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, N.C., and launched the Coast Guard Cutter Finback and the Coast Guard Cutter Dependable, homeported in Cape May, to the scene. The Florida transited on its own power to Savannah, Ga. At Dorchester Shipyard, the Dictator and crew were greeted by officials of every kind, TV crews and an ambulance for a crew member, who was air-lifted to a trauma center but is now recovering. On Friday, after a diver went down to inspect the damage, the Dictator was deemed safe enough to be towed that day to the Fairhaven Shipyard in New Bedford, Mass., for repairs which are expected to be extensive. |
