Charges Denied in Sunken Boat Probe

Officials for an oil tanker suspected of striking and sinking a fishing boat have denied an attorney’s charges that they attempted to hide evidence that might link the ship to the incident.

The 72-foot boat, Jack Jr., was struck by a ship May 26 off Point Reyes, and its three crew members died.

The tanker Golden Gate is one of two ships identified as having been in the vicinity of the Jack Jr. at the time. The other is the British cruise ship Royal Princess.

The Coast Guard is conducting a hearing to determine whether either ship was responsible for the accident, and how it happened.

In a copyright story in Sunday’s San Francisco Examiner, lawyer Quentin Kopp, representing the family of the skipper who died, charged that netting had been removed from the propeller of the Golden Gate in a Seattle port the day after the collision, but that the Coast Guard didn’t find out about it until weeks later.

“There wasn’t any type of withholding of evidence,” responded Jeff Raleigh, a spokesman for Keystone Shipping, which represents the Golden Gate. “That is an absolute fabrication of evidence.”

Raleigh said attorneys for the company immediately notified the Coast Guard that netting had been recovered from the ship. He said the Coast Guard was reminded of the matter three times.

Coast Guard spokesman Lt.(j.g.) Dan McClellan said Sunday that he had no information on the net.