Metlakatla's AMHS M/V Lituya Accident

Not even sure where to start, but... My husband is the captain of the A.M.H.S. M/V Lituya that was aground on an island off Metlakatla. What a freak incident! Our winds were so strong that the vessel broke free of its mooring soon after midnight Friday morning (Jan 30th). The Lituya docks overnight daily in Metlakatla and was secured as usual, but the winds were too powerful.

We were awoke by a police officer banging on our front door and I received a text from my brother saying "The ferry is loose in the bay" (12:40 a.m.). As my husband threw on clothing to run out the door with the officer, I let him know I could see the Lituya spinning in the bay from our upstairs window as it was moving swiftly toward the direction of a couple of small islands we call the "Twin Sisters".

As he and others headed out in boats, I noticed it had stopped spinning and knew it found either an island or rocks that are abundant in our bay. The lights went out on the Lituya (batteries exhausted). The weather was nasty for water crafts, but our brave people didn't hesitate to get out there in pairs. One man even tried going out in a small skiff and its engine died causing a slight distraction for what was going on, but he was brought back safely into our breakwater.

My husband went out on one of our police officer's, Roger McKeehan's boat with Royce Hayward's seine boat as back-up to see what it looked like for trying to get onto the ferry. The Lituya was, at that time, brushing up against the rocks of Scrub Island, and the boats came back in for Steven to get on another boat (our Mayor Karl Cook's bow picker with Rich Hudson's gill netter as back up) to attempt to get onto the ferry(2:15 a.m.). The waves were 7 ft+ and as hard as he tried, it was just too rough. Our Mayor reported to me that Steven had actually grabbed onto the deck a couple of times but it was way too dangerous to continue. They came in again to wait for the weather to improve. however, the tide was changing and going out. It had been high tide and chances of getting it safely away were getting slimmer.

The weather improved slightly by 4 a.m. and they went back out in the same two vessels last tried (Mayor's and Hudson's). By what I could see from the window (and binoculars), I could tell Steven was successful at getting aboard the ferry this time, because the Lituya's lights came back on. Daniel Marsden's seine boat headed out as the Lituya's lights came on. From the chromium light of Daniel's seine boat, I could see that the stern of the ferry was definitely on the rocks and the ferry was listing horridly to starboard. I could see the area that they load cars on the starboard side rocking close to the water. The Lituya's lights went out again and the boats came back in. It was pitch black out there so we wouldn't be able to watch how the ferry was doing until daylight. There were other boats, but I wasn't sure whose they were, but thankful for all the people who didn't hesitate to help. The ferry was definitely going aground and the Coast Guard and tugs were called in.

7 a.m. and we could finally see that the ferry was aground and still mostly upright. Steven met the incoming tug at the state dock and they headed out to investigate the vessel to start planning how to get it off the rocks safely. I sat on the state dock to wait and watch and be there if Steven needed anything. They came back in to get my camera (the picture he took of the Lituya above). the town's people kept our ball field (closest open area to view the incident) constantly packed. The schoolchildren came in groups. Thank goodness the weather cooperated.

2 p.m. and a half hour shy of high tide, the two tugs pulled the Lituya from the rocks of Scrub Island. Then divers investigated the Lituya's hull before towing it to Ketchikan. It was in amazingly better condition than it could have been for what it went through.

The policeman who first noticed it missing upon their security check had thought the Lituya broke its bow line, but after looking at the computerized equipment aboard the Lituya, Steven noticed it had broke free from the stern breaking all four cables. A man who worked in a huge warehouse above where the Lituya docks said the roof to their building had torn off in the wind and how wicked the wind gets in that area and very unpredictable.

There really was not much of anything that could have been done to prevent what happened and although it was a horrible accident, I thank God that the Lituya is still afloat and able to be fixed. I have been told that this is not the first time this has happened and definitely not the biggest vessel this has happened to here in Metlakatla. There have been log ships that have broken free from their mooring (from a very near location to the Lituya's dock) and drifted into the same islands or those nearby. My father told me his 92-foot boat did the same thing many years ago, but it had survived then.

I am even more thankful that my husband was safe in all his attempts to board the vessel and for his safety after successfully getting aboard and shutting down things and closing watertight doors. The Lituya safely awaits in Ketchikan for the dry dock.