Arctic Rose Kin Get $9 Million

The families of the 15 men who died when the fishing vessel Arctic Rose sank in the Bering Sea will divide insurance money estimated at less than $9 million, lawyers said Thursday.

The 92-foot Seattle-based vessel sank April 2, 2001, killing all aboard. It was the region’s worst U.S. fishing vessel disaster in decades.

The ship had been trawling for sole after a winter season plagued by mechanical problems, poor fishing and foul weather.

A Coast Guard board of inquiry report on the sinking is expected later this year.

The settlements involved insurance companies for the boat’s owners, Arctic Sole Seafoods and President Dave Olney.

The individual settlements are confidential, but they ranged from roughly $200,000 to more than $1 million for at least one crew member survived by a wife and dependent children, according to lawyers involved in the case.

David Bratz, a maritime lawyer representing the owner and insurers, said he was pleased that the settlements could be reached without extended trials.

Jim Beard, a lawyer representing six Arctic Rose families, said most of the settlements were substantially greater than had been historically paid out for fishermen’s deaths.

The typical figure for crewmen without dependents was about $250,000, according to Steve Fury, another maritime attorney.

Kathy Meincke lost her 20-year-old son, Jeff, of Lacey, whose trip aboard the Arctic Rose was his first fishing job.

Meincke said she had hoped for a bigger settlement that would have produced more pressure from the insurers to improve safety in the commercial fishing industry.

Kari Rundall, the widow of Arctic Rose skipper Dave Rundall, said she’s pleased she now has enough money to ensure college educations for her three sons.

Rundall’s body was the only one recovered.