Hili-Kum

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada states that "The Hili-Kum departed from an anchorage off Moresby Island, B.C., with a cargo of red urchins for discharge at Port Edward, B.C. En route, the weather deteriorated. On April 10, 1995, in following gale-to storm-force winds and rough seas, the vessel shipped large volumes of water on the afterdeck, settled by the stern, and sank stern first. The three crew members donned immersion suits, abandoned the vessel, and boarded a liferaft. Two of the three immersion suits were defective, and the liferaft capsized several times. Two of the crew succumbed to hypothermia and drowned; the survivor was rescued some five and a half hours later. The Board determined that the Hili-Kum proceeded to sea despite a storm warning broadcast, and was being operated in following high winds and rough seas with the fish hold hatch cover not battened down. The cumulative effect of large volumes of seawater shipped on the afterdeck, the vessel's low freeboard aft, and the flooding/ downflooding of the below-deck spaces aft caused the vessel to settle by the stern, lose reserve buoyancy, and sink stern first. The hypothermia and subsequent drowning of two of the crew is attributable to the poor state of repair of their immersion suits and to their exposure to the harsh weather conditions when the liferaft capsized."