Sea spares two with area ties; third man lost in blast on boat.

Byline: MARK BAKER The Register-Guard

Two survivors and one presumed casualty of a fishing boat accident Sunday in the Bering Sea have area ties.

George F. Karn, a 45-year-old cook on the Galaxy, is missing and believed dead. Karn's brother, Mike, lives in Eugene. They last saw each other in July when George Karn was passing through town, his brother said Tuesday.

Karn and first mate Jerry Stephens got tossed into the frigid sea off the coast of Alaska after a fire and explosion on the 180-foot vessel.

"It doesn't look good," said John Young, attorney for Seattle-based Galaxy Fisheries, owner of the boat. A rescue effort for the two men will cease today, Young said.

Tony Denuccio of Eugene and Reagan Gilimete, 19, of Coos Bay, part of the 25-member crew, survived the accident. They were among 18 people rescued by fishing boats in the area.

Both men remained at sea, however: 70 mph winds and rough seas kept the boats from docking at St. Paul Island, Young said. "The weather has just been terrible," he said.

The hope was that the men would make it to St. Paul by Tuesday night, then be flown by the Coast Guard to Anchorage for questioning before heading to Seattle, Young said.

The Galaxy was about 30 miles southwest of St. Paul when the blast occurred. St. Paul is 750 miles southwest of Anchorage.

All of the rescued men were in good condition, with the exception of the boat's skipper, Dave Shoemaker, who suffered severe burns and three broken ribs trying to fight the flames to save anyone he could, Young said. Another crew member died from injuries suffered in the accident.

Meanwhile Tuesday, a crewman from a ship searching for survivors was swept overboard. He wasn't wearing a life jacket or a survival suit. His name was withheld pending notification of family.

The cause of the blast aboard the Galaxy has yet to be determined, Young said. The fire charred much of the vessel, used to catch and process Pacific cod.

The chief engineer had discovered an engine room full of smoke and before he could activate a chemical fire suppression system, ``it flashed,'' Young said.

The Coast Guard plans to launch a formal investigation, a spokesman said. Galaxy Enterprises has hired a salvage company that is waiting for the weather to subside before towing the vessel to the Aleutian fishing port of Dutch Harbor.

George Karn had been at sea on the Galaxy for about two months and loved the adventure, Mike Karn said. A cook for more than 25 years, George Karn spent much of that time preparing meals for men in the oil-field camps of northern Alaska, until a chance to cook for a fishing crew came up about four years ago, said Bill Karn, another brother from Anchorage who has been in Eugene the past couple of weeks.

"He was a first-class cook," Mike Karn said. "He could have worked in hotels if he wanted to. But this is the life he liked."

Ironically, George Karn, of Auburn, Wash., turned down a chance to cook for the crew of the Arctic Rose, another Seattle-based fishing vessel that sank in the Bering Sea last year, killing all 15 crewmen, his brothers said.

But he couldn't cheat death twice, his brothers said.

"He was street smart, he was savvy," said Bill Karn, a chef himself. "He was cocky. He had an extremely sharp wit. You couldn't out-argue the guy, and we argued a lot."

When the call came late Sunday from his sister, Patricia, it was "just shock," said Mike Karn, a seller of rare and used books. "I mean, George, of anybody - he'd gone through so much you didn't expect it."

Bill Karn, 55, and Mike, 54, grew up with their little brother in a family of seven children in Seattle. George was the youngest of Ed and Olga Karn's children. Ed Karn was a longtime chef in downtown Seattle, Bill Karn said, and he passed his love of cooking onto his children.

George Karn and first mate Stephens stood over a hatch, trying to fight the flames, according to news reports of the accident. The explosion occurred about an hour after the fire broke out. Karn was wearing a survival suit and Stephens was not.

Karn's sister spoke with someone from the Coast Guard, who told her that based on the water temperature and her brother's weight, about 180 pounds, he couldn't survive more than 24 hours, Bill Karn said.

As tough as the loss is, at least their brother died doing something he loved, Mike and Bill Karn said.

As Bill Karn put it with a smile: "Next to the skipper, you're the guy with the most power if you're a good cook."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

CAPTION(S):

NICOLE DeVITO / The Register-Guard Mike Karn (left) of Eugene and Bill Karn of Anchorage talk about their brother, George, missing and presumed dead in the Bering Sea.