NTSB: Poor crew training, oversight led to tuna seiner fire On Dec. 6, 2018, the 228-foot tuna seiner Jeanette sank off Tutuila Island, a part of American Samoa, after being on fire for nearly 23 hours. The estimated damage exceeded $15 million. There was no loss of life.

The Jeanette, which was built in 1975 and owned by C & F Fishing LTD in San Diego, Calif., but home ported in America Samoa, caught fire and sank as a result of inadequate crew training and oversight, according to the National Transportation Safety Board’s marine accident brief.

The Jeanette, with 18 crew members, had been fishing in the Pacific for about two weeks when the captain ended the trip and returned to Pago Pago Harbor on Nov. 22 to offload 1,330 metric tons of tuna valued at $1.75 million.

The Jeanette was a 228-foot steel hull tuna seiner built in 1975. NTSB photo. The Jeanette was a 228-foot steel hull tuna seiner built in 1975. NTSB photo.

Several senior officers left the Jeanette while it waited its turn to offload. During that time, an item on the maintenance work list called for removing wasted sections of the overhead frames on the wet deck and to weld in replacements.