Federal jury finds Port Clyde fishing vessel seaworthy
By Kim Lincoln
The Herald Gazette Reporter

PORTLAND (Sep 7): A federal jury has found that a Port Clyde fishing vessel was seaworthy at the time of its sinking in July 2005, which claimed the life of Capt. Gary Thorbjornson.

In July 2008, two cases, one filed by David N. Wilgus and the other filed by Tammy Thorbjornson and Garrett Thorbjornson, were consolidated. Tammy is the wife of Gary Thorbjornson and Garrett is his son and was also a deckhand on the Sirius at the time of its sinking. Wilgus also was a deckhand.

The principal owners of the vessel, a 50-foot wooden fishing boat, were Gary Thorbjornson, his father Ed Thorbjornson and brother Travis Thorbjornson.

The group filed the consolidated case in July 2008 under the Jones Act and the general maritime law of unseaworthiness for personal injuries resulting from the sinking.

After a three-day jury trial, presided over by U.S. District Court Judge D. Brock Hornby, the jury on Sept. 4 found in favor of the fishing vessel Sirius.

In July 2005, Gary Thorbjornson and Garrett Thorbjornson and Wilgus, who were 17 and 19 years old at the time, were on the third day of a fishing trip aboard the Sirius when it began taking on water. Gary Thorbjornson, 41, was last seen heading below deck to retrieve survival suits, when the boat listed to its port side and sank, trapping the captain inside the wheelhouse, according to court documents.

Garrett Thorbjornson and Wilgus were able to deploy an inflatable life raft and after several hours were rescued by another fishing boat.

In June 2005, prior to the July sinking, the vessel was hauled out at Lyman Morse boatyard in Thomaston and brothers Gary and Travis Thorbjornson did extensive work sanding down the hull, recaulking where necessary and painting it, according to the defendant's final pretrial memorandum.

The boat was then taken back to Port Clyde where it sat docked in the water prior to going out on its first trip.

"There is absolutely no evidence that there was any water seeping or leaking into the vessel's hull prior to going out on her first trip," court documents said.

Two weeks after the sinking, Garrett Thorbjornson testified in a sworn statement that on the first trip, prior to the sinking, there was a little bit of water in the fish hold, but it was no concern to anyone on the vessel.

After the first trip, Gary Thorbjornson told his brother Travis Thorbjornson that the bilge pump in the lazarette got plugged up with fish slurry. After it was cleaned out, there was no leaking of water into the vessel, according to the court documents. A diver was hired to check the hull and propeller and everything was satisfactory.

"The F/V Sirius was at the dock in Port Clyde for approximately two and a half days without any leaks," the court documents said. "When she went out again, on the trip of the sinking, she was out for almost three days, again with no leaks in either the fish hold or the lazarette."

The plaintiff's pretrial memorandum paints a different picture.

On the trip prior to the sinking, something struck the underside of the boat while it was hauling in gear, causing a loud banging sound, according to the plaintiff's final pretrial memorandum.

Garrett and Gary Thorbjornson believed that the "doors" of the fishing gear struck the underside hull of the vessel near the stern.

About five or six hours after something struck the underside of Sirius, and while the vessel was steaming back to port, Gary Thorbjornson notified his son and deckhand Garrett Thorbjornson that the vessel was taking on water and said "we're sinking," the court documents said.

Garrett Thorbjornson then went into the fish hold hatch and observed about 18 inches of water above the fish hold deck. He began to bail water out of the fish hold, eventually bringing it under control, and the two were able to make it back to port, according to the court documents.

No further repairs were made to the vessel prior to the trip when it sank.

On the evening of the third day of the last trip, the bilge alarm went off.

"Prior to the bilge alarm going off, nothing unusual had occurred on the trip," according to the court documents. "The F/V Sirius did not hit anything, was not hit by anything and there was no loud and unusual sound. At the time the bilge alarm went off the F/V Sirius was experiencing good weather conditions with seas between two and four feet."

Garrett Thorbjornson witnessed approximately 18 inches of water in the fish hold and started bailing it out with a five-gallon bucket while his father set up two extra bilge pumps in the fish hold.

The vessel started steaming home to Port Clyde and while Wilgus and Garrett Thorbjornson continued bailing, the water in the fish hold started rising and continued to rise and the vessel started listing to the port side.

The list to the port side increased until trays of fish started sliding across the deck toward the port rail and Gary Thorbjornson ordered the trays thrown overboard. While Garrett Thorbjornson was throwing trays overboard, the port rail became submerged in water.

Eventually, the boat rolled onto its port side with its starboard side out of the water. Gary Thorbjornson radioed a mayday, and passed a survival suit to Garrett Thorbjornson through the wheelhouse door and headed down to get additional survival suits.

"Soon after Gary Thorbjornson headed down forward to get additional survival suits, the entire stern and midship of the vessel sank, leaving only the tip of the bow floating above the water and trapping Gary Thorbjornson in the bow compartment," court documents said.

When the stern of the vessel sank under the water, Garrett Thorbjornson became trapped by the pilot house overhead and was dragged underwater, but he was able to break himself free and swim to the surface. He and Wilgus then swam to the life raft and deployed it.

The Thorbjornsons and Wilgus were represented by attorney David F. Anderson of Latti and Anderson, LLP of Boston and the owners of the Sirius were represented by attorney Michael X. Savasuk of Portland.