Royal Pacific (II)

The Canada registry of this vessel was closed effective 2011-12-20; the vessel was later registered in the United States under state boat license in Washington State. George Schneider (Email to Nauticapedia 27/06/2023) stated "In the fishing harbor I spotted one of the ex-Canadian fishing boats, SOUTHERN PACIFIC (CF1504VJ). When local fishermen needed to replace their wooden boats, it was discovered that fishing with low net tonnages could register under state license, and therefor the prohibition of foreign-built vessels doing local fishing could be bypassed, because that only applied to documented vessels. Just as passenger vessels can get the rules fudged to be under 100 gross tons, SOUTHERN PACIFIC measures in at just 4 net tons, so is exempt from being documented. 4 net tons equates to 400 cubic feet of taxable space, so assuming an 8 foot overhead, only a 7x7 foot room on her is classed as money-earning." The US Coast Guard Port State Information Exchange reports: "On November 18, 2013, the unlicensed master onboard the commercial fishing vessel ROYAL PACIFIC was attempting to shift berths when he lost control of the vessel and allided with the commercial fishing vessel GOLDEN EAGLE, which was moored at a nearby berth. The allision punctured the ROYAL PACIFIC's starboard stern fuel, which was integral with the hull. Subsequently, the diesel fuel in that tank began to discharge into Ventura Harbor. Workers at the Ventura Harbor Boat Yard observed the discharge and applied sorbent boom and material to retain the spilt fuel in the corner of the harbor. The ROYAL PACIFIC's tank was plugged to halt further discharge and the vessel was removed from the water. The owner of the ROYAL PACIFIC contracted an oil spill response organization to remove the discharged diesel from the harbor."