Alaska State Troopers have identified the person who died in a boating accident near Petersburg last week as Susan Paul, age 73 of California. She was in a 20-foot Hewescraft skiff that sank after a collision with a larger seine boat.
A spokesperson with the U.S. Coast Guard, which is leading the investigation, says it’s unclear what led to the accident.
A second person on board the skiff – 71-year-old Gordon Paul also of California – survived. He was taken to a local hospital after the two boats collided about 11 miles south of Petersburg in the Wrangell Narrows on June 5.
The U.S. Coast Guard based in Juneau received a mayday call just before 9 a.m. The larger vessel has been identified as the 58-foot seiner Vis, which fishes out of Petersburg.
Crew from the Vis and a nearby boater pulled Gordon Paul from the water. He was transported to a nearby boat launch at Papke’s Landing and driven to Petersburg Medical Center. He was reported to have minor injuries and symptoms of hypothermia.
Search and Rescue volunteers flew in from Wrangell and used a thermal drone to spot a fuel plume rising from underneath the water, according to a press release from the group. They narrowed their search area and used a trained rescue dog to pinpoint the likely location of the second person. Rescue divers from Petersburg and Wrangell found Susan Paul still with the skiff and were able to recover her body by mid-afternoon.
Alaska State Troopers, U.S. Coast Guard, and the Petersburg Police Department also responded, along with good Samaritans in the area.
The original version of this story used a quote that implied that the fishing vessel Vis was at fault. However, it is not known at this time what led to the collision. An investigation is ongoing. KFSK regrets the error and will cover the investigation as it continues.
