Lady Mary may have been dragged under???

Interesting read.

Submarine? really?

seems like they need to go down and take a look at least

Too many boats in a small area

A friend of mine told me the story of when he was pulled under by a submarine. I worked with him as first mate (second captain) on a tug years ago. This happened about thirty miles off our coast on March of 1993. He had trouble telling me the story. He would choke up and get goose bumps on his arm. He lost a few friends that night, they never made it out. It took him 4 years to get back on a tug again. Some of you probably fished this wreck, the tug's name is the Thomas Herbert.
The government won't admit to the accident but private investigations showed evidence of the sub who was responsible. The sub was doing shallow water maneuvers in the area at that time and had been seen coming into port earlier than planned with damage to the con tower. Brett cooper, friend of mine who was the mate of the Thomas Herbert is still offering a $100,000 reward, out of his pocket, for anyone who comes forward with evidence to prove the sub was the cause. He did receive a anonymous phone call years later with hard evidence but I never heard anything more of it. I believe there is a story about the tug in the book " Shipwrecks of New Jesey" central edition. It tells how the government investigation falsely determines the cause and how the Navy covers up any incidents.
This would not surprise me as to what happened to the scallop boat. It's happened before and sadly probably not the last time. Hope these guys get some justice.

too many boats in am small area you got that right ive seen it down there where boats are towing outrigger to outrigger working a small spot

Years ago dragger disappeared off Pt Judith

Many years ago when I when I lived in Narragansett Pier, RI in the 70's a dragger just disappeared without trace one night and shortly after a sub came into their home port in Groton, CT with cables wrapped around it. The last information I ever heard about this was there was a in depth Naval inquiry going on up in Boston but and never found out what resulted from the investigation. I have no idea what happened to the Lady Mary but on a few occasions talked to some of the crew when they walked behind our boat at South Jersey Marina. Horrible tragedy for everyone involved and hope more solid information can be brought forth when the boat is examined in the near future. I cannot imagine losing your sons and brother in any type of tragedy and the heart ache the family must be enduring is beyond belief.

More questions rased on survival suits

This new info from "The Press" of AC
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Two Lady Mary victims drowned; focus on survival-suit effectiveness

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By RICHARD DEGENER Staff Writer, 609-463-6711 | Posted: Friday, April 24, 2009 3:30 am | 0 comments
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CAPE MAY — Two brothers who perished when the scallop boat Lady Mary sank on March 24 died of “asphyxia due to drowning” in what the Atlantic County Medical Examiner’s Office has classified as an accident.
The Press of Atlantic City on Thursday got the cause and the manner of death for Royal “Bobo” Smith Jr. and Timothy “Timbo” Smith by filing a government records request with the Atlantic County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Dying of drowning as opposed to hypothermia likely indicates a quicker death for the Middle Township brothers, though Smith family attorney Steve Weeks said neither is a good way to die.
Both men were wearing survival suits to ward off the cold water and this normally would prevent a hypothermia death during the three hours or so before the Coast Guard arrived. The last electronic transmission from the boat was at 5:10 a.m. and the Coast Guard spotted the men in the water around 8:20 a.m.
Weeks is wondering if im-provements to the way survival suits are made could have kept them alive.
“They shouldn’t have died that quick in survival suits. Maybe some good will come out of this thing,” said Weeks.
The suits have an air bladder that a fisherman is supposed to physically blow up through a tube. This bladder, by the head on the older suits the Smith brothers were wearing and under the arms on some newer suits, is designed to help flotation.
If inflated, the bladders could have helped keep the heads of the Smith brothers out of the water and prevented saltwater from entering their lungs.
Petty Officer David Downham, the Coast Guard rescue swimmer who recovered their bodies, said neither air bladder had been inflated.
Weeks said gas canisters are used to blow up life rafts and some personal floatation device suits, or PFDs, that mariners work in, by simply pulling a cord. He said the canisters should be built into standard survival suits, which are large bulky items meant only for floating.
Robert Garrott, the Coast Guard’s Fishing Vessel Safety Program Coordinator, said he is aware of the PFDs but does not know of any survival suits that come with self-inflators. Garrott said the suits have “some inherent buoyancy,” but the bladders add extra flotation support.
Weeks said the lone survivor of the Lady Mary sinking, Jose Luis Arias of Wildwood, told the father of the Smith brothers, Royal “Fuzzy” Smith Sr., that Tim Smith was alive in the water. Arias said he heard him yell as the Lady Mary generator went under water and it suddenly got dark.
“He heard Tim yelling for his brother, Bobo, and then he quit yelling,” said Weeks, who said Tim Smith still exhibited some vital signs when he was rescued.
The cause of the sinking that took the lives of the Smith brothers and four other Cape May County fishermen is still unknown. The Coast Guard is conducting a Marine Board of Investigation inquiry into the tragedy.
Also killed in the sinking were the Smith brothers’ uncle, Bernie Smith of Wildwood; Frank Credle, a cousin of the Smiths who lived on the boat; Frank Reyes of Middle Township; and Jorge Ramos of Lower Township. Their bodies have not been found.
Downham’s testimony before the board suggested other survival suit issues. He said they were so full of water on the Smith brothers that when the saltwater spilled out into the helicopter he worried it could short out electrical systems. He said there was “not a lot of water” in the suit Arias wore.
Downham said the front zippers were not pulled all the way up and a face flap was not secured on the suits the Smiths were wearing.
Garrott said the zipper should be up all the way over the chin, and the face flap then covers the mouth and lower part of the nose to prevent water from coming in. When offshore waves are actually breaking a fisherman will “keep getting clobbered by waves,” Garrott said.
Downham testified that waves were as big as 10 feet and the top 12 inches was breaking. The water was in the low 40s. Wind gusts hit 30 knots.
After rescuing Arias, Downham came back for the Smith brothers and found them face down in the water. He attempted CPR on one of the Smiths but said rigor mortis had set in on the other one, and he knew it was no use.
Arias was not sure if all the crew had suits on, but has previously said some may have jumped into the water with them in their arms. Garrott said he has put one on in a calm swimming pool, and that was difficult.
It can also be hard to swim to a life raft in the bulky suits. The Lady Mary life raft did deploy, but it was found empty.
Weeks said the Coast Guard is working on getting underwater pictures of the shipwreck next week and is talking about reconvening the inquiry on May 4.
E-mail Richard Degener:
RDegener@pressofac.com

Answers Soon?

Cutter with ROV Headed for Lady Mary Site

Accidents | 2 hours 20 min ago | Comments 0
Tags: cape may, Lady Mary Sinking, u.s. coast guard
By Jack Fichter



CAPE MAY — The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Willow, home ported in Newport, R.I., is on its way to Sandy Hook where it will pick up a State Police Marine Division remotely operated vehicle (ROV) and members of the Marine Board of Investigation and proceed to the site of the Lady Mary wreck.
The commercial fishing boat sank 60 miles off the coast of Cape May on March 24.
On Wednesday April 29, the team will attempt to launch the ROV.
Petty Officer Christopher McLaughlin said stormy weather is forecast for Wednesday, which could prevent operations. The ROV activity would be rescheduled for Thursday April 30, he said.
McLaughlin said the Willow would stay on scene for as long as possible to launch the ROV.
A private dive team comprised of volunteers on behalf of Roy Smith, who lost two sons and a brother in the accident, was set to examine the site of the sinking this week but that has been postponed until aftrt the Coast Guard ROV operation, said McLaughlin.
According to NOAAs Ocean Explorer Web site, ROVS are remotely operated underwater vehicles which are unoccupied, highly maneuverable underwater robots operated by a person aboard a surface vessel.
They are linked to the ship by a group of cables that carry electrical signals back and forth between the operator and the vehicle. Most are equipped with at least a video camera and lights. Additional equipment is commonly added to expand the vehicle’s capabilities.
These may include a still camera, a manipulator or cutting arm, water samplers, and instruments that measure water clarity, light penetration, and temperature.
Once the ROV operation is complete, the dive team will be allowed to proceed, he said.
A Marine Board of Investigation into the sinking, with multiple loss of life, of the fishing vessel Lady Mary is scheduled to reconvene a public formal hearing beginning May 4 at 9 a.m. at the Coast Guard Training Center. The board is investigating the circumstances relating to the sinking of the vessel and will develop recommendations to improve the safety and operations of similar vessels.
The National Transportation Safety Board is also participating in the investigation.

Print | Email Updated 2 hours 12 min ago

Hit by a sub...

it wouldn't be the first time a fishing boat was sunk by a sub. While I was living in HI the USS Greenville was doing some emergency surfacing drills w/ civilians on board when they hit a Japanese fishing boat killing the crew which included school kids. It turns out the captain hadn't followed procedures and the civilians were actually at the com. when the collision occurred.

Regardless of what happened this is a real tragedy and I can't imagine what it's like to lose two sons, a bro and cousin at once.

I was down at their dock on Saturday and the first thing I did was to stop and say a little prayer for them .

The submarine theory always comes up on an unexplained sinking. US subs would not be submerged in the ET or anywhere else < 1000 ft deep off the US coast. On the surface near a base, like the one in RI, ok. I think the survivor would have known if they were being suddenly pulled backwards and under like in Jaws. The genny would still be running, the deck lights still on, etc. The ROV will tell the real story if the damage is not laying against the bottom.

Vessel Located Upright

Fifth District Public Affairs
U.S. Coast Guard
Published: April 30, 2009
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - In a joint effort between the Coast Guard and New Jersey State Police, the final resting place of the fishing vessel Lady Mary, which sank southeast of Cape May, N.J., and taking six lives, has been verified Wednesday.
The Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation, the group in charge of looking into the facts and circumstances surrounding the sinking of the vessel, solicited the help of the crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Willow, a 225-foot buoy tender homeported in Newport, R.I., and the Marine Services Bureau of the New Jersey State Police to send a remotely operated vehicle down to the Lady Mary wreck site.
The external survey by the ROV shows the Lady Mary generally sitting upright on the bottom. The survey did not reveal any evidence of the remaining missing crew members. The ROV, however, does not have the capability to enter into the vessels internal spaces.
Earlier in the month, the NOAA survey ship, Thomas Jefferson, had conducted a sonar survey of the probable resting place of the Lady Mary and identified what was believed to be the vessel but ROV confirmation was not possible due to rough weather.
The crew of the Willow hosted members of the MBI and a NJSP ROV team for another attempt to verify the wreck site. The Willow, which has dynamic positioning capabilities the crew uses to accurately set buoy positions, used that capability to hold a steady position for an extended time period and permit the NJSP ROV operators time to examine the external view of the Lady Mary.
Formal hearings conducted by the MBI are scheduled to resume on Monday, May 4, 2009, at the Oceanside Club in Cape May.
P

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Safety advocate: N.J. needs bigger Coast Guard helicopters

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By RICHARD DEGENER, Staff Writer, 609-463-6711 | Posted: Saturday, May 2, 2009 3:10 am | 0 comments
Font Size:Default font sizeLarger font size Ron Sinn, of Middle Township, hopes the investigation of the Lady Mary sinking will lead to several improvements in safety measures.




CAPE MAY - A marine-safety advocate is using the Lady Mary's sinking to push for larger Coast Guard helicopters along the New Jersey shore.
Ron Sinn, a former party boat captain who served in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserves from 1964-70, has been attending the hearings on the sinking and is hoping the tragedy leads to a number of safety measures ranging from better survival suits to improved emergency beacons.
Sinn also has focused on helicopter size after Lt. Cmdr. Tina Pena, the pilot during the Lady Mary rescue operation, testified that her HH-65C Dolphin was almost out of fuel and room for any more survivors.
Sinn questions why Coast Guard Air Station Atlantic City has 10 of the smaller Dolphin helicopters but none of the larger H-60 Jayhawks. Sinn noted that the Coast Guard keeps
H-60s in Cape Cod, Mass., and Elizabeth City, N.C.
"Pena is running out of fuel and couldn't handle many more people," said Sinn, who has fought with the Coast Guard before over improving safety regulations.
The difference between the two machines is significant. While both can hit speeds of about 180 mph, the H-6O can carry more people and holds more fuel. It has a range of 700 nautical miles as opposed to 356 nautical miles for the H-65s. The "radius of action" for the H-65 is 150 nautical miles, while it is 400 nautical miles for the H-60.
Sinn argues the larger helicopter is needed for rescues far offshore when multiple people are in the water. The Lady Mary sank March 24 about 70 miles off the coast with a seven-man crew.
Coast Guard Cmdr. Ron LaBrec said 70 miles is "well within the range" of the H-65's capabilities, and depending on the operation, several can be sent out.
LeBrec said the Coast Guard looks at the coast as a whole when deciding where to place assets, which includes helicopters, planes and vessels.
"We have 42 H-60s and 102 H-65s. They are both very capable helicopters. What we do is look at geographic area, caseloads and weather. We strategically place them. On either side of Atlantic City, you have two other states with H-60s," said LeBrec.
As Pena flew home March 24, two other Dolphins were on the way out and she briefed them on the situation. Sinn argues it doesn't matter how many are sent out if they don't have the range.
Pena was successful that day, though it was close. She rescued the lone survivor, Jose Luis Arias, and recovered the bodies of brothers Timothy and Royal Smith Jr. Pena and her crew then scanned the Lady Mary debris field for the other four crewmen, including Frank Reyes, Jorge Ramos, Bernie Smith and Frank Credle, but did not see them.
Fuel almost became a factor, Pena told a Marine Board of Investigation looking into the tragedy. Pena said she was running low after picking up Arias and the Smith brothers. She had been doing a lot of hovering, which uses about 750 pounds of fuel an hour compared with a normal rate of 600 pounds an hour.
The Jayhawk can hold 6,460 pounds of fuel and be in the air for seven hours. Pena testified her helicopter holds 1,600 pounds of fuel and can be in the air for about two hours. Pena said she was airborne at 7:55 a.m., and at 8:47 a.m. left the accident scene worried about fuel. She faced strong headwinds going home. It took 25 minutes to get to the scene, but about 45 minutes to get home.
Pena said if there had been more people to rescue, she would have tried to get the attention of a commercial fishing boat to retrieve them.
"We had no fuel left to search. We were at bingo," Pena said.
Pena saw fishing vessels in the distance but none answered her radio calls. If the fishing boat option failed, Pena noted she may have taken a chance on rescuing others even if she had to land her chopper on the beach. As it was, Pena landed with an empty tank.
"We had just enough fuel to get home," Pena said.
Another issue is the limited space on the Dolphin. While the Jayhawk has 6,000 pounds of cargo capacity and could easily handle seven men, Pena testified that she really did not have room for any more people.
"If you found all seven, could you fit them?" asked Brian Curtis, of the National Transportation Safety Board, at the marine board inquiry.
"If I found seven, you better believe I would have gotten those fishing vessels over there," Pena said.
She also stressed that two other helicopters were on their way out. The Coast Guard also put out an Urgent Marine Information Broadcast, or UMIB, for all mariners to be on the lookout for survivors. Getting the marine community to help is often a Coast Guard option.
LaBrec said the Coast Guard does not like to have different helicopter models at the same air station. He said it is easier to maintain one model at a station and have those pilots trained just for that helicopter.
Atlantic City is an H-65 station, but LeBrec noted it is sandwiched between stations with H-60s, Cape Cod and Elizabeth City. The Coast Guard also has cutters, which take longer to get to a scene unless they are nearby at the time, and planes, usually used for searching, dropping off life rafts and survival gear, and other tasks.
As a search and rescue planner, LeBrec said that as a situation unfolds he looks at the type of case and what resources are available. The Coast Guard often errs on the side of caution by sending multiple assets out to cover any contingencies. The Coast Guard sent out helicopters, vessels and airplanes on the Lady Mary sinking.
But the further offshore, the longer it will take to get assets to the scene. LeBrec said that is why safety equipment, including survival suits, radios, life rafts and EPIRB's (emergency signal devices), are so important.
"The seas are a dangerous place and these folks are far offshore," LeBrec said.
In other news, the inquiry on the sinking has been in recess, but it will reconvene Monday. The week is expected to include testimony from an expert on EPIRBs and lone survivor Arias, and Royal Smith Sr., who lost two sons and a brother in the sinking, will take the stand.
E-mail Richard Degener:
RDegener@pressofac.com
What's next?
The Marine Board of Investigation
looking into the Lady Mary tragedy reconvenes at 9 a.m. Monday
in Cape May.

Posted in Cape_may, Top_three on Saturday, May 2, 2009 3:10 am Updated: 11:05 am.

Yeah...and every time something else goes wrong we will need 2 heavy lift helos, an airborne tanker and 4 assault landing ships and a partridge in a pear tree....

God forbid we actually let the "experts" who have been the bearers of the torch for over 200 years make the 'intelligent decisions" on how the USCG should be manned, equipped and run.....:thumbsdown:

I personnaly have been down this road a hundred times and my fingers still hurt from writing reports and answering questions to out fearless leaders and "so called" experts....

And anyone who wears a getup and hat like that can be taken as seriously as their wardrobe...

Here's a little background on "the marine safety expert"...

Issued to: Ronald G. Sinn​

:
This appeal is taken in accordance with 46 U.S.C. § 7702 and 46 C.F.R. § 5.701.
By an order dated July 18, 1997, a United States Coast Guard Administrative Law Judge at Baltimore, Maryland, suspended Appellant’s Merchant Mariner’s License for one month, with four additional months suspended on sixteen months probation.
Appellant was charged with​

evidence. All charges and specifications were found proved. Appellant’s License was suspended for one month, with four additional months suspended on sixteen months probation.

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Lady Mary hearing offers more mystery than clues

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By Richard Degener, Staff Writer, (609) 463-6711 | Posted: Monday, May 4, 2009 3:20 pm | 0 comments
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CAPE MAY -- The possibility of a collision at sea sinking the Lady Mary emerged Monday following testimony that there were more than 20 vessels within a six-mile radius and two that were less than one mile away.
Coast Guard Lt. Timothy Lee Marriott used electronic vessel tracking data to show the Marine Board of Investigation holding hearings on the sinking what vessel traffic was like that day. It was pretty heavy some 70 miles offshore due to scallop boats working the rich grounds known as the Elephant Trunk and larger deep-draft vessels navigating the shipping lanes.
At 5:10 a.m., the last tracking signal was received from the Lady Mary. At that time, Marriott said the commercial fishing vessel Alexandria Dawn was 800 yards away and a large ship heading to the Port of Philadelphia, the Cap Beatrice, was one mile away and moving fast at almost 20 knots. Two other ships, the Energy Enterprise and APL Arabia, were also close by.
The electronic tracking signals come every half hour or so, giving an exact position at that time, but the problem is there is no way to track the exact movement in between the 30-minute signals. Whether any of the vessels crossed paths is not clear. The Lady Mary scheduled signal due at 5:40 a.m. never came. That places the sinking some time between 5:10 and 5:40 a.m.
Steve Weeks, the attorney for the Smith family, which owns the Lady Mary, said underwater video of the shipwreck shows fishing gear entanglement that could have come from a collision or the scallop dredge hitting an underwater obstruction. He said the cable line to the dredge is not connected.
This could indicate the cable was hit and broken or some other problem occurred. The video shows the scallop dredge, still loaded with scallops, on the deck of the boat so if there was some type of collision with the cable the crew was able to retrieve it.
"The gear has been retrieved and disconnected. There's no reason to disconnect a tow cable from a dredge unless you have a problem," Weeks said.
A dive team led by Capt. Steven Gatto of Sicklerville is ready to go out and take a closer look, and take high-resolution video, once the weather cooperates.
"The divers will review the gear entanglement question," said Weeks.
Monday's testimony also included an almost-unexplainable lack of radio communications about the sinking among all the vessels out there. Coast Guard experts reviewed tapes of all radio communications and heard no mayday or distress calls. It was as if the Lady Mary, fishing with many other boats right around it, simply disappeared.
The Lady Mary sank on March 24, leaving six Cape May County fishermen dead. The hearing will continue on Tuesday here at Training Center Cape May with Jose Luis Arias of Wildwood, the lone survivor, expected to take the stand.
The Coast Guard also recovered the bodies of brothers Timothy and Royal Smith Jr. of Middle Township the day of the sinking.
Still missing and presumed dead are Frankie Reyes of Middle Township, Jorge Ramos of Lower Township, Bernie Smith of Wildwood and Frank Credle, who lived aboard the Lady Mary.
See Tuesday's edition of The Press of Atlantic City for complete coverage.


Posted in Breaking, Cape_may on Monday, May 4, 2009 3:20 pm Updated: 3:27 pm.
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Could two dredges gotten tangled and caused this. Everyone likes to blame subs, tankers ad freighters. I like the sub at 5 fathom each year You see posts of the fast blinking yellw light and the big spot on the radar that iscalled FA.

Let's not forget that the EPIRB wasn't properly registered! That crew and thier potential rescuers lost about 2 hours because of it. Generally the wheel doesn't need re-inventing, it just has to be maintained by all parties, it's too easy for most to monday night QB something a group like the CG does but 98% wouldn't even think about doing what is asked. Unfortuneately there will be accidents that happen that will never be explained, so to that, there may not be someone to blame.

No I dont but Id have to look into it. I dont know that I have the resources or experience that you have to look at a situation and determine if a larger helo with greater range (or longer search time) would have made a difference- and points well made about usage of current resources.

I was just commenting from a "seems to make sense" perspective.

Why not have the resources to search longer - or further.

I think what alarms me is that Lt. Cmdr. Tina Pena stated she was running low on fuel after picking up Arias(just one person). She further stated they ended back on E. Could she have made it if she tried to pick up all seven? I would not want to be the one in the water while the helicopter waived goodby because they did not have enough fuel to pick me up. What if the same incident happened in the canyon. Are the AC helos capable of hoisting all passengers of a sinking six-pack in the canyons? I hope so. If not, I vote to spend some coin!

Geeeezzzz...go back to the sub theory and blame the Navy....

Well... surviving crew member testifies today... maybe some answers will come out of it.

I think the Coast Guard should invest in some tighter fitting uniforms for the ladies... for safety purposes... ya know?

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Lady Mary hearing: some crew members had used marijuana; survivor describes chaos

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/...a-38e1-11de-bcb2-001cc4c002e0.html?mode=printBy Richard Degener, Staff Writer, (609) 463-6711 | Posted: Monday, May 4, 2009 3:20 pm
Lady Mary owner Royal Smith Sr., right, and his attorney, Stevenson Lee Weeks, listen to witness testimony from Aldo Guerino, a fishing-vessel safety examiner for the U.S. Coast Guard auxiliary.

Photo by: Staff photo by Danny Drake

• 
• 

CAPE MAY - The sole survivor in the sinking of the Lady Mary testified today that the scene was chaotic as the captain struggled to right the foundering scallop boat.
Jose Arias, speaking through an interpreter, described crew members struggling to put on their survival suits amid shouts and mayhem.
Arias said he did not see all six crew members on deck -- leaving open the possibility that some were in their bunks and went down with the ship.
Autopsy results show the captain and one crew member aboard a scallop boat that sank off the New Jersey coast had used marijuana.
But a doctor says how recently they had done so and whether it might have impaired their judgment and performance aboard the Lady Mary could not be determined.
Capt. Royal Smith Jr. and his brother, Timothy Smith, were among six crew members who died when the boat sank off Cape May on March 24.
A lawyer for the Smiths' father says the captain's blood level was low enough to have been caused by second-hand smoke from Tim Smith's use. But attorney Steve Weeks says drugs have no place on a fishing boat.
Testimony came Tuesday from Dr. Anthony Costantino during a Coast Guard inquiry into the accident.
On Monday, the possibility of a collision at sea emerged following testimony that there were at least 20 vessels within a 6-mile radius and two that were less than a mile away.
The testimony also raised questions about how none of the other boats saw anything amiss or came to help, even as the Lady Mary sent out a line of debris that stretched for miles.
Coast Guard Lt. Timothy Lee Marriott, speaking before a Marine Board of Investigation looking into the March 24 sinking that took the lives of six Cape May County fishermen, used electronic vessel tracking data to show the area was full of marine traffic.
There was a fleet of scallop boats working the rich fishing grounds about 70 miles offshore known as the Elephant Trunk. There were also several deep-draft cargo ships navigating the shipping lanes.
At 5:10 a.m., the last tracking signal was received from the Lady Mary. At that time, Marriott said the commercial fishing vessel Alexandria Dawn was just 800 yards away and a cargo ship heading to the Port of Philadelphia, the 222-meter Cap Beatrice, was less than one mile away and moving fast at almost 20 knots. Two other cargo ships, the Energy Enterprise and APL Arabia, also were close by.
The electronic tracking signals come every half hour or so, giving an exact position at that time, but the problem is there is no way to track the exact movement between the 30-minute signals. It’s not always a straight line.
Whether any of the vessels crossed paths is not clear. The Lady Mary’s 5:40 a.m. signal never came, placing the sinking between 5:10 and 5:40 a.m.
Steve Weeks, the attorney for the Smith family, which owns the Lady Mary, said underwater video of the wreck taken last week shows fishing gear entanglement that could have come from a collision, or the scallop dredge hitting an underwater obstruction. He said the cable line to the dredge is not connected.
This could indicate the cable was hit and broken or some other problem occurred. The video, however, shows the dredge, loaded with scallops, on the deck of the boat. If there was some type of collision with the cable, how did the crew retrieve the dredge?
“The gear has been retrieved and disconnected. There’s no reason to disconnect a tow cable from a dredge unless you have a problem,” Weeks said.
A dive team led by Capt. Steven Gatto, of Sicklerville, is ready to go out and take a closer look at the wreck and take high-resolution video once the weather cooperates.
“The divers will review the gear entanglement question,” Weeks said.
Marriott reviewed AIS, or automated information system, signals large commercial vessels must transmit, as well as VMS, or vessel monitoring system, signals scallop boats must send to let fish regulators know where they are working. At 5:10 a.m. the Cap Beatrice was three-quarters to one mile from the Lady Mary and going 19.7 to 19.8 knots. Marriott had no explanation why the Cap Beatrice stopped sending signals for about six hours after that.
“For several hours we received no AIS data from the Cap Beatrice. I don’t why. APL Arabia and Energy Enterprise were continuous,” Marriott said.
“Was the Cap Beatrice inspected for damage when it got to Philadelphia?” Weeks asked.
“I don’t know,” said Marriott, who added that he received the AIS data about one week ago.
Weeks noted that the Alexandria Dawn, a New York-based, boat, could also have made up the 800-yard distance in very little time.
“They could have crossed paths,” Weeks said.
“It’s possible,” Marriott replied.
‘They heard something’

Monday’s testimony also delved into radio communications.
Marriott reviewed tapes of VHF transmissions from 3 a.m. to 8 a.m. and heard no distress calls, though he heard chatter among captains indicating something was happening.
“It’s clear they heard something. They were discussing something as happening but no mention of a vessel in distress or a Mayday,” Marriott said.
Even with all the boats out there, Marriott noted it wasn’t until late in the afternoon of March 24 that a captain called to say he heard a garbled Mayday at about 5 a.m.
But Marriott said the Lady Mary may have been too far out for VHF communications to even reach shore. High-frequency, or HF, radio has a farther range,but he noted the high-frequency radio tower in Atlantic City went down at about 3 a.m. and did not come back up until hours after the sinking. Marriott said an HF tower in Cape May could have picked up transmissions, but none were heard.
Weeks questioned Chief Petty Officer James Bell of Coast Guard Sector Delaware Bay on whether the Cape May tower could have been out of range.
“Yes sir,” Bell replied.
Cmdr. Kyle McAvoy asked if they ever pick up HF transmissions from the fishing fleet. Bell said they do, yet even urgent marine broadcasts the Coast Guard issued were not being heard that day on the HF emergency channel.
A third witness, Coast Guard Reservist Aldo Guerino, testified on safety exams he did in 2007 and 2008 of the Lady Mary. He said the equipment was up to code and any time he asked Capt. Tim Smith to add anything, he did.
“He did everything any captain could do,” Guerino said.
The bodies of Smith and his brother, Royal Smith Jr., were recovered by the Coast Guard. Still missing and presumed dead are Frankie Reyes, Jorge Ramos, Bernie Smith and Frank Credle.
Different ID numbers

Guerino said one problem was the EPIRB, or emergency position-indicating radio beacon, had two different identification numbers, one listed with the manufacturer and one on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration registration. Just one of 15 identification numbers was changed — a zero and a letter C — but this meant when the EPIRB activated it did not give rescuers the name of the boat. Weeks blamed NOAA for the error. The board talked about ways to prevent such errors by cross-checking the numbers.
“Anybody can make a mistake. I could mistake an O for a C,” Guerino said.
Guerino said he saw recent additions to the wheelhouse, but noted that a boat under 79 feet in length is not required to have a stability test for such modifications. Weeks argued the dredge being found on the deck of the Lady Mary proves it did not roll over, because the dredge would have separated from the vessel.
Guerino said there is no requirement for the crew to take safety classes and no drug tests are required on vessels of less than 200 tons. It was announced earlier that the lone survivor, Jose Luis Arias, passed his drug test, which is required after a casualty incident.
The hearing continues today at 8 a.m. with Arias expected to take the stand.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.


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How can 20 -22 vessels be within 6 miles and no hear anything (mayday) or come to help? One vessel was only 1/2 mile away. Maybe that vessel was involved? Something is just wrong with this story.