View source for Pacesetter (fishing vessel)

{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=
|Ship caption=FV ''Pacesetter'' disappeared in 1996.
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag=[[Image:Flag of the United States.svg|60px]]
|Ship name=''Pacesetter''
|Ship owner=Dale Lindsay and Matt Pope
|Ship operator=Pacesetter Mariner Inc.
|Ship launched=1976
|Ship completed=1976
|Ship builder=Signal Ship Repair, [[Mobile, Alabama|Mobile]], [[Alabama]]
|Ship acquired=
|Ship in service=1976
|Ship out of service=
|Ship homeport=[[Seattle, Washington|Seattle]], [[Washington (state)|Washington]]
|Ship identification=*{{IMO Number|7645718}}
|Ship fate=Disappeared 27 January 1996
|Ship notes=Named&nbsp;''Priscilla&nbsp;Ann''&nbsp;1976–1979; ''Coastal&nbsp;Glacier''&nbsp;(1979–1988); ''Pacesetter''&nbsp;(1988–1996)
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class=Crab boat
|Ship length={{convert|127|ft|m|abbr=on}} 
|Ship tonnage= 193 tons
|Ship capacity=114 pots (misinformation) 
|Ship crew=7
|Ship notes= Worst accident in the 1996 Alaskan snow crab fishery
}}
|}
F/V '''''Pacesetter''''' was a {{convert|127|ft|m|1|adj=on}}, steel-[[Hull (ship)|hulled]], [[Bering Sea]] [[Crab fishing|crab-fishing]] boat launched in 1976 as ''Priscilla Ann''. In 1979, she was renamed ''Coastal Glacier''. The vessel eventually was acquired by Matt Pope and Dale Lindsay and renamed ''Pacesetter''. ''Pacesetter'' was reported missing in 1996 by the [[United States Coast Guard]] [[List of United States Coast Guard stations|Seventeenth District]] headquartered at [[Kodiak, Alaska|Kodiak]], [[Alaska]]. The search ended with no sign of the boat or her seven-man crew. The loss of ''Pacesetter'' was noted as the worst sinking in the Alaskan 1996 [[Snow crab|snow]] [[Crab fishery|fishery]].

''[[Deadliest Catch]]'' star [[Sig Hansen]] was once briefly employed as the [[ship's cook]], but never went to sea with her after injuring his ankle.<ref>Hansen, Sig and Sundeen, Mark (2010). ''North by Northwestern: A Seafaring Family on Deadly Alaskan Waters'', Simon & Schuster Ltd. {{ISBN|978-0312591144}}.</ref>

==As F/V ''Pacesetter''==
The boat was owned by Pacesetter Mariner, Inc., a family business. Her [[Sea captain|captain]] was Matthew Pope. The crew was Stephen Mack, Richard Anderson,  Michael Kirk Ericson Sr., Byron Koesterman, Elias Pena, and Stanley Estesad. ''Pacesetter'' had a normal "mud boat" [[stern]] like other Bender crab boats. The [[Bridge (nautical)|wheelhouse]] had just been raised and a full maintenance and paint routine was done in the MINI Shipyard and Foss Shipyards the summer before the boat was lost.

==The disappearance==
On 27 January 1996 at 00:32, ''Pacesetter'' was reported missing. United States Coast Guard District 17 at Kodiak, Alaska, picked up an [[emergency position-indicating radiobeacon station]] (EPIRB) distress beacon. All U.S. Coast Guard assets were sent out to find the missing crabber. At 06:40, a U.S. Coast Guard [[Sikorsky HH-60 Jayhawk]] helicopter sighted an EPIRB beacon. At 7:12, nearby vessels spotted a [[life raft]] but no sign of the crew. At 07:47, a second life raft was found partially submerged and not inflated. At 08:06, searchers found a [[buoy]] float with the boat's name on it. The U.S. Coast Guard called off the search after two days.

==Investigation==
A partner boat reported seeing ''Pacesetter'' roll from side to side. The U.S. Coast Guard found that the vessel was overloaded with [[crab pot]]s. Pope had loaded the boat with pots at [[Dutch Harbor, Alaska|Dutch Harbor]], Alaska, to the boat's supposed maximum. He then left the harbor and picked up an estimated 22 more [[bait pot]]s on his way to the fishing grounds. Witnesses reported that the boat was rolling so hard that they could see the [[rolling chalk]]s on the bottom of the boat. From the testimony of crews from other boats and pot yard records, the Coast Guard ruled the vessel was overloaded and traveling in adverse weather conditions when she heeled, rolled over, and sank.

==Similar incidents==
A number of incidents over the previous decade bore a similarity to the loss of ''Pacesetter'':

*On 19 September 1987 the {{convert|127|ft|m|1|adj=on}} [[stern trawler]] ''Nordfjord'' – also built by Signal Ship Repair – disappeared without a trace with the loss of her entire crew of five after sending a brief [[mayday]].
*On 29 January 1989 the {{convert|98|ft|m|1|adj=on}} crabber ''Vestfjord'' sent a mayday about ice accumulation and was lost.
*On 11 February 1991, the {{convert|86|ft|m|1|adj=on}} ''Barbarossa'' vanished with her entire crew of six.
*On 15 January 1995, the [[Seattle]], [[Washington (state)|Washington]]-based crab boat ''Northwest Mariner'' was found [[capsize]]d. The boat had six crew members. A life raft was found next to the inverted boat with two unconscious crew members on it who then died of [[hypothermia]]. The four others were never found.

==References==
{{Reflist}}
News articles:
*[https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19960201/2311820/seven-more-lives-lost-to-alaskas-fish-politics community.seattletimes.nwsource.com]
*https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Ioo1AAAAIBAJ&sjid=QiEGAAAAIBAJ&pg=5547,2995459&dq=crab+boat+pacesetter&hl=en
*https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=M_xfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=CFgMAAAAIBAJ&pg=5129,2693929&dq=crab+boat+pacesetter&hl=en
Incident Report
*http://www.cfec.state.ak.us/RESEARCH/07-1N/Rpt07-1N.pdf
Ship Info
*https://archive.today/20130415191907/http://shipindex.org/ships/coastal_glacier
*http://shipindex.org/ships/pacesetter
*http://maritime-connector.com/ship/northwest-mariner-8038508/

{{1996 shipwrecks}}
{{coord unknown|Pacific Ocean}}

[[Category:Fishing ships of the United States|Pacesetter]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks of the Alaska coast|pacesetter]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1996]]
[[Category:1976 ships]]
[[Category:Ships built in Mobile, Alabama]]
[[Category:Ships lost with all hands]]
[[Category:Missing ships]]