Overlooked & Overloaded: The Loss of FV Northern Belle 

▶MORE MARITIME: Tampa Bay, Cutter Blackthorn: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-II7jld-SS84.html Bering Sea, Scandies Rose: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-KFevuP5ua_8.html Atlantic, El Faro: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE--BNDub3h2_I.html North Atlantic, Ocean Ranger: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-cyNFhthQ97Q.html Gulf of Maine, Emmy Rose: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-BGtkMAoE-z4.html

As a former Bering Sea crab fisherman I have seen boats that were scary to even look at. I applauded the work the Coast Guard did in the 80's and 90's to bring fishing boats into compliance regarding safety while at the same time a lot of fishermen hated the Coast Guard for it. I was lucky to be on a vessel that stressed safety and made it a routine. The owners went so far as to send all crew to safety classes including medical emergencies, stability, firefighting, general watch standing and navigation. I never once felt unsafe during fishing operations even during the worst weather and conditions.

These shipwreck stories always make me a little emotional. My Dad was a crabber in Alaska. He went down in the Gulf of Alaska on the Pacific Surf in 77. They were unable to send a mayday and jumped Into survival suits and just piled into a life raft that soon began leaking. The next day they all jumped out to try and fix the raft and my Dad apparently had a heart attack and died. They tied his body to the raft but seas got rough and they had to cut him loose. He was 52. It was his fifth fishing accident. After drifting for 3 more days the survivors spotted a tanker and fired a flare. The Overseas Chicago saw the flare, took eight miles to stop, turn around and pick up the survivors.

Coast guard rescue swimmers are hard-core, not very many people have the intestinal fortitude to do what they do. Much respect

RIP to that captain (kudos to him sending out that distress signal before the ship sank) and Baxter.

Rest easy Baxter. You and the captain stayed together until the end.

That sign off of yours, "Your Safety Matters". Its so deeply impactful. I heard a story once, of someone learning various labor laws for the first time. They had a chuckle at something like "Moving toxic materials is hazardous" or something of the like. An older co worker turned to them and said "These laws were written in blood". And I think, after all this time, with protections being rolled back and times changing, now more than ever, everyone deserves to hear that their safety matters.

The Captain really helped save them, rest in peace to him. Also you are absolutely right. I work in a field that is seen as a dangerous one but we don’t skimp on safety and making sure each of us gets back safely home at the end of our shift. We do all sorts of checks to make sure ever detail is spelled out to not take risk, even monitoring our rest schedules. So thank you for saying this, these men and women deserve to come home without that shrugging stigma. They have a right to safe passage and working equipment that can safe their lives. It’s outrageous how these feelings are normalized. Even to those of us who work in this industry. I’ve had to check coworkers at times for being complacent. We have these systems let’s all be safer and USE EM! I don’t care what work you do at the end of the day you have a life to live outside of that so make sure you’re doing what you need to to protect yourself and those around you. Complacency kills!

Hey Sam, just feel a need to voice my love of the content you've been producing. I think its admirable how much effort you put into not only researching these video topics, but animating helpful visuals and delivering the information in a manner that gives respect to the gravity and seriousness of the matter at hand. Though I'm sure the RU-vid algorithm would reward it, you don't sensationalize tragedy like so many other channels out there, you give the most informed, informative, and enlightening overview of a subject that you can and emphasize the significance of the things which could have been done to mitigate or prevent disasters in the case being studied as well as in the future. I could (and would like to) go on about how amazing I find your channel and videos to be, but for the sake of brevity I'll just say this: While I'm not currently in a financial position to do so, once I am I will happily become a financial supporter of you and your videos. I know being a content creator for a fairly niche genre is difficult and not particularly well paying, but I cannot stress enough how much I believe you deserve the support required to continue. Please continue to make the content you want to see being made, I will happily be here to watch and support you as I can. Thank you for all your efforts!

As a flag state surveyor, I use Northern Belle in my country as a case study on the importance of water tight divisions (especially in small craft), liferaft float free arrangements, EPIRBS on smaller craft, and the danger of fishing vessels moonlighting as add hock cargo ships when they are ultimately not fit for purpose. I may make use of your video here to save my voice next time I'm leading training. You closing remarks are very poignant, the amount of times I have had to sit down with owners and captains and explain how vessels stability works is shocking (or it was when I first started, now its par for the course). The responses are often the same "I know my boat and what it can take" or "well I have always done it this way and I've never gotten into any trouble out here", I now carry around a little binder with the examples of how these boats get loaded down with gear and modifications (like those stupid wings that guys think increase the boats stability when in actuality it makes it worse) and become unstable and are lost. They often end up saying "wait this can happen!?", yes and it happens all the time to people who think it will never happen to them. The industry needs to shift away from this idea that suffering and high risk need to be part of the trade and that going out in unsafe craft should somehow be the norm. No getting yourself and your crew killed in way that are easily preventable doesn't make you a hero, it just makes you a statistic in my little book.

As an Alaska mariner I really appreciate these videos. Thank you for shedding light on some of these disasters where most do not. 🙏

Man hearing the mayday calls is something else. I was army infantry for years got out in 2016 but I’ve always had a lot of respect for the coast guard. That’s some scary shit and truly putting yourself out there for others

As someone who’s done marine emergency response, that last monologue you did hit deep. The sheer difference between the standards I’ve seen between our safety standards and those I’ve seen on other commercial vessels is staggering sometimes.

May the Captain and Baxter rest in peace. May whatever comes next for them show them the kindness they deserve.

I grew up on my father's 85' long line sword boat ...he was adamant about the 24 hr inspection...bulk heads, door seals, bildge pumps, hydraulics, generator and main engine fuel filters and oil, life suits, raft ,EPIRB, fresh water supplies...I thought he was a bit crazy about this...I didn't get it...until we were caught in a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico for 36 hours...40' seas.

Thank you for witnessing for Baxter. He may not have been human but he was a soul on board and obviously the Captain loved him. I've just discovered your channel tonight and the way you treat those that were lost is with thoughtfulness and dignity. Subscribed.

I had a Cocker Spaniel growing up so this video especially made me sad. Poor Baxter and the poor captain. :( I wish this accident had never happened. Thank you for putting their stories out there and advocating for improved safety.

Something you said near the end struck me. So many people forgo taking care of themselves because they think being selfless is the top priority for them. My best friend, for example, always wants to do things for his coworkers, even if it's not in his job description or if they don't ask. He seriously burns himself out and gets nothing in return. But you can't take care of others if you don't take care of yourself. Prioritize your own safety and well-being. For you, and for them.

ouch that silence after he asked the make and size hurts

Former Bristol Bay fisherman here. Good video. Good point about the lack of reserve buoyancy. Low freeboard tenders are spooky and can go down shockingly fast from lazaret leaks or equipment failures even in benign weather conditions. An old family friend once rescued the crew of one unlucky (or very lucky) tender in Southeast Alaska that went down too fast to even get a distress call out. The tender was running in good conditions with the hold tanked down (flooded). It’s worth noting that fish are close to the density of water so it’s common for some vessels to almost always operate in a tanked down state for comfort/stability and therefore have very little reserve buoyancy aft. In this story, whatever failed happened so fast that the tender crew was in the water with no survival suits or radio transmission. Luckily for them, our friend was running his gillnetter through the same area, saw the tender flounder as it went down, and pulled the crew out of the water a few minutes later. As a general comment, I understand the appeal of low working decks, but I’ve never really felt comfortable with how they’re implemented most of the time. Too many rapid sinkings. In contrast, the gillnet fleet doesn’t generally loose boats with no warning like that due to proportionally higher reserve boyancy.

I have an extreme fear of open water and won’t see myself on a boat anytime soon. But I really enjoy watching this kind of content. So happy I found your channel. One of the best!

The Captain here was the polar opposite of the one aboard Stretch Duck 7. Quick, concise action that gave his crew the best chance for survival.

R.I.P. to the Captain and Baxter. 🥺

Thanks for the video, you did a nice job with it. I have been involved in the fishing industry my whole life including 44 years in Alaska, 28 as a captain. I was an acquaintance of the owner and had been around this vessel for years while tending in Alaska. The vessel construction was typical of a utility boat from the gulf, absolutely zero shear or crown built into the vessel, I.E. a curve built into the deck at the bow and stern to provide more stability if the deck becomes flooded in heavy weather. Almost all West coast fishing vessels are, or were, built with crown and shear to promote rapid clearing of the deck. The crown sends the water towards the scuppers or freeing ports along the bulwarks and the raised stern clears the water forward to those ports as well, getting the water off the deck helping maintain stability. I saw this vessel loaded many times in Bristol Bay and Togiak and she was always stern down when tanked down or full of fish. Consensus in the industry was that the lazarette flooded and when that happened there would have been no reserve buoyancy at the stern. Not sure if they were carrying cargo in the fish holds or had them flooded for stability but if he was carrying cargo in them and the hatches were not water tight from the top there could have been down flooding on the one side leading to more instability and capsizing. If they were flooded with water for ballast and were pumping them and the pump quit the water would back flow out the sea chest and cause free surface leading to listing, or, if they flooded them, shut the pump off and locked the sea chest down, the rolling action of the vessel in weather combined with leaky hatches could create free surface effect and exacerbate the instability. Tendering in Alaska has been one of the safest parts of the industry, deaths from vessel loss are considerably lower than any other use of vessels in the industry. Regulation would not have helped in this case as the vessel is under 79 feet which is the cutoff for the stability requirements. You cannot regulate bad decisions. Mr. Royer made a very bad decision in overloading his vessel, if his alarms had have been working he may have avoided the outcome and as in most vessel losses, it is usually more than one thing that is to blame but in the end it is always human error and more regulation will never be able to alleviate that. One thing that the regulators fail to grasp is that the vast majority of vessels that are tending in Alaska are very stable and the majority of those seldom carry large deck loads of freight so if you look at risk benefit you really aren't gaining a whole lot here. Far more people die in recreational boating accidents every year than in the commercial industry yet the national media rarely covers it as they are treated like an automobile wreck, every day news but when a fishing vessel goes down it makes for sensational headlines. According to the CDC, 43 fishermen die per year on average and in recreational boating in 2021 were 658, from CG records from 2000 to 2019 there were 878 total deaths in fishing and from 2001 to 2020 13,596 died in recreational accidents. If you look at a graph of the recreational deaths they have remained static while fishing fatalities have dropped. The largest number of fishing related deaths in Alaska according to NIOSH is gillnetting followed by pot cod, sole trawl and setnetting, they accounted for 41% of deaths from 2000 to 2019. The biggest reduction to crab fishing fatalities was due to much needed stability checks and the rationalization of the fishery. Education of stability and checks before the season greatly improved the numbers as did the number of vessels that were reduced due to permit stacking and you didn't have to compete in a derby style fishery which the fisheries managers opened on a set day regardless of weather. My point is this vessel would have fallen through the cracks of the present act as he would not have had to have a stability letter if the boat was converted to tending before the act was signed but the act is just now starting to be implemented so he would not have had to comply at the time of the accident. Some of the requirements that are to be implemented are adopted from more profitable sectors of the industry like trawling and factory long lining and will unduly affect tender operators financially to the point of getting out of the business and the travesty of it is that if the boat fishes as well as tenders they are to be exempt from the scheme, as I understand it. All deaths are tragic and common sense regulation is a necessary part of trying to limit them but as always there seems to be an unfortunate side effect of regulating the small guy out of business and as the one CG officer once told me, "Bankrupting a fishery would be worth it if we save just one life". RIP Rob.

I'm not gonna lie... after the captain said they are getting into the life raft and the coast guard asked for for the make and length and color of the boat when they clearly are in survival mode is pretty frustrating to hear... I'm sure there is protocol and things they do and ask that we don't understand but you would think the coast guard has the ability to pre plan and be able to pull that information up from a database

Thank you for this channel and bringing awareness to workplace safety. My husband is a blue collar factory worker. He's in a fairly safe factory now but he spent a year working at a cast iron foundry when we first moved here. I was scared for him every day. The foundry is notoriously unsafe (they actually had a small explosion a few months ago and a fatal accident last year) and he had many close calls, one within literal inches. No one does anything about it because the economy here fully relies on the foundry as it supplies raw materials for every other factory in the region. Obviously that means the warehouses rely on it too. The only way to not be working down the line from the foundry here locally is to work fast food or retail, but the wages there are unsustainable. People will willingly risk their lives. The price is $18/hr. Even back home in Illinois the local ADM plant is joked to stand for Another Dead Man. Blue collar workers deserve to work in as safe an environment as possible.

My wife was rescued by the Coast Guard helicopter crew and they are the best! I was a search and rescue pilot and ground search deputy and in the USAF and I hold the Coasties at the top of the list. Great job!

Thanks for what ya do. I am involved in boat repair in Florida. Couple thoughts. Considering marine casualties, almost always, the people are dead before they cast off. They just don’t know it. It takes three issues compounded to cause a casualty. Things are getting worse because our country has no mechanics these days. And, I try as hard as I can to get it right. I pray I never hurt anyone. Caring goes unappreciated, in fact it gets criticized. That’s what I got to say about that.

As a life long 5th generation commercial fisherman, I really appreciate the time and research you put into figuring out every detail you can about the vessels and the situations. Anything related to boats and water I’ll be watching every one man

You examine all of these tragedies meticulously but also with the utmost sensitivity. The footage, photographs and graphics are enthralling and complimented by a wealth of information and topnotch editing. Thank you for your efforts.

The two most important rules I've picked up when I entered the manufacturing industry and still remains with me today are: 1. Safety regulations are written in blood 2. It's the "normal" things that will kill you I'm not the safety guy (I used to be the process guy of the company) but this has been something I've tried my best to instill to all of the new hires we got back in my former company, no matter their position or their work location. I've lost count of the number of times I'd gotten in arguments behind closed doors with supervisors about there being too much dust in their site or have too much unsegregated scrap. I've had to make too many incident recreations and reports to ever let minor things become "normal" I hope your channel brings this sort of thing more into the mainstream

Like others have expressed, one of the reasons this channel impresses me so much is in how respectful you are in talking about the incidents you cover. Sensationalizing would be easy, but disrespectful, and I cannot say how much I appreciate a channel that treats these horrible incidents with such care. As for this specific incident, that initial mayday call was so clear, so informative. One of the most difficult things in an emergency is staying calm to impart crucial information. It's one of the reasons my workplace does regular drills and training for what to do in an emergency. It's tragic that the captain didn't make it but thank goodness he had the time and presence of mind to make that call.

I think about this event once in a while and how Baxter the dog was last seen hiding somewhere because he was scared by the commotion. It makes me sad to think about. Once again a fantastic video, Sam. You're doing much needed work to protect workers from inexperience, complacancy, indifference and consequently potential death.

I've been following you for about a year now and I've been so incredibly happy seeing your growth and the direction you've taken the channel. Your content is without question the best in the genre on the platform because of the insane amount of work you put into it. Keep it up, I'm excited to see what's next!

God save the Coast Guard, well done on the rescue.

Thank you, for mentioning the Captains dog, Baxter.

Can’t wait for these uploads, I don’t know how you don’t have 10x the subs. Love the videos!

You nail the atmosphere of these videos. I'm always most excited for them. A gem to have in the world of RU-vid

I don’t really know about boats, or regulations. I don’t even live near the ocean. But I am captivated by harrowing stories. The more I watch videos like this, the more I learn that tragedy don’t just happen, they start over a period of time.

I grew up in Clatsop County, OR and we had a number of Bering Sea boats and fishermen either retired or moored for the summers as well as tons of other fishing boats. Quite a few memorials and plaques to fishermen that never came back and the sense of "normal" that brought was very real. Even now having not lived there in 10 years, I see loss of fishermen as a "toll or tithe" for the industry. The headline you showed of 1st year without a casualty is actually amazing to me. I can't imagine how nice it would be for fishing to be as safe as flying. Or at least in the ballpark.

Hi Sam - this might be the most left field comment ever. You caring about seafarers and the incredible sincerity you tell us we matter really helped me just now. It's been a dark few weeks for me. I'll accept and appreciate every lifeline thrown my way to keep me wanting to go on another day, another step further. Anyhow, I never faced danger at sea, but I took training more seriously than any of my shipmates when I was in the US Navy. I'm agast at how much everyday people take safety for granted. It sometimes seems almost suicidal. 😢 Thanks again for somehow creating light via such dark content.

I know someone who served on the Northern Bell 3 years before she went down. He only spent one season on her fishing and then he went for a season on a large processing ship. Then came back to Washington. He is a writer and did it to get back ground about a character he was writing about who was sort of a sea monster werewolf. He needed to know what working a fishing boat and processor was to write intelligent about it.

I am currently fixing a 100yo wooden sailing cutter to use it for leisure sailing along the coast eventually. Apart of the knowledge from my training and courses, your videos are gonna cost me SO much on all the rescue equipement I am gonna buy before ever leaving port. We are not required to have a liferaft on this vessel, but its Norway we are talking about, so...yeah.. imma getting a raft. Deck space my ass. And personal epirbs, absolutely.

Rest in Peace to the Captain and his dog, it saddens me greatly that their live's were lost.

Discovery's Deadliest Catch has highlighted how dangerous it can be on the Bering Sea, what is often forgotten is the Gulf of Alaska can be equally as dangerous. Extremely cold waters with frequent severe storms year round means every boat that goes into these waters needs to have safety procedures worked out before departing port, crew trained in the procedures and as many communication systems as possible. Every boat includes pleasure boats since these waters are part of the Pacific Northwest Cruising area.

Liking before i even start heading a single word in the video. That's because i already know it's going to be perfectly edited, narrated, illustrated and researched. Thanks BrickImmortar!

Wild to see the northern bell on this one. They were our tender for several years in my childhood. Probably late 90s. Have some pics of me sorting fish and being pretty young musta been 97 or 98. Remember it sinking, I was several hundred miles away but heard comsta kodiak responding. Another gulf rig goes down with loss.... story repeats itself over and over and over. The amount of neglected gulf built boats that piled up over the last 50 years.... could keep you making videos for years. Usually they sink stern first from rotten steel or hatches in the laz. I fished on one.... once. Cured me of that.

I had the pleasure of meeting 2 of the captains from the Deadly Catch show in 2010 in Australia after my partner and I went to see them at a show the same night we happened to be staying in the same place. It was interesting to be able to hear about their lives and understand a little about what they faced on a daily basis. Very brave men indeed

At the 28 minute mark, I come to realize why you have so much knowledge of ships and what drives you. Thank you for the hard work you put into these videos.

I have tears in my eyes. I have had a fire onboard while underway on a charter. Luckily we had other boats near by. The Capt did a wonderful job here of getting his info outnb location location location and bodies.

'Psh, they're heroes' reminds me strongly of a general attitude towards front line and health workers, especially nurses, who are working too hard for too little in this pandemic era.

I can't imagine the short moment of relief someone would feel in a situation like that knowing that despite everything someone is coming to risk their life to rescue you

I love the amount of effort and time put into the content that we are able to see. I haven't been able to find anyone else on this website who does it like you, and if it similar, they don't have the literal grit and passion that goes along with it. I look everyday to see if you post anything new, and today you have. Thank you for your hard work.

Sailors going down is a tragic tale as old as time. But the dog too?! That's not okay man.

Counting down the minutes! Love your channel great watch while I'm driving to work. My new favorite RU-vidr for sure

Thank you so much for keeping your videos free and accessible. Your hard work is so very appreciated and important.

The opinion you voiced in this video at the end always puts a lump in my throat. I grew up in a heavily-industrialized area full of steel, coal, chemical, all other manner of the same kind of plant in the Tri-State area. We had a lot of railroad activity, too. My grandpa wore an asbestos suit and stood next to a pool of molten steel every day. Air pollution at the steel factory my Dad worked at was so bad that most of the people drove junk cars to work. If you took the nice car to work, the pollution would take the paint off your car in short order. My Dad raised me in a culture of safety all my life. I told you all this because I can't say thank you enough for discussing these incidents with compassion. People do these dangerous and necessary jobs over hundreds of industries and they don't always get to dictate the terms of their safety. These courageous people do these jobs not just to make a necessary living. They do it because it's in their family history. They do it because it needs doing and they step up to doing it. Thank you for stepping up to be the voice of reckoning for those we lose.

Phenomenal work as usual. I come from the airline world but find these marine incidents incredibly fascinating. Always lessons to be learned. Your presentation is great!

The conclusion of this video is incredible. I really believe that each of us contributes to a culture that we create. We CAN make the world safer. People deserve it.

That honesty of the safety co-ordinator is very refreshing, even through his words I can tell his regrets and diligence towards saftey, sadly they did not get a follow up test for 6 years. (2004-2010)

23:11 Where men cried Thanks for the vid, you always manage to give through and informative videos, keep it up!

I'd so love to see this channel cover the sinking of Gulf Livestock 1 in September 2020. I absolutely love your content bud. Your knowledge of the subjects you cover is unsurpassed. Thankyou.

The Northern Belle… broke my heart when it happened and still hits me like a brick to the chest.

USCG rescue swimmers are like fishing, but with people. They jump out of a perfectly fine aircraft, into the worst weather and water conditions to save others in the middle of the cruel sea. They are the epitome of the word "hero".

I stumbled across wour work this morning with the Stretch Duck 7. Thank you for your extraordinarily thorough coverage and fantastic illustrations. I know this may appear to be an inside comment organised by yourself, but I am Adam and I've never seen your work previously and I'm from down under. I'm subscribing and I look forward to watching more of relative content. Taa m8. Awesome job!!!.

Nice sendup for the Northern Belle. As typical a small ship as can be found in Alaska / Seattle waters. I spent time in Adak and Kodiak myself. Dreary and cold, chipping ice off deck. I loved every minute.

Of all of the videos I've seen on maritime disasters, this is one of the few cases I've seen where all procedures were followed correctly and immediately, and abandoned immediately instead of trying to save an unsaveable ship.

Another brilliant video! Rest in peace Royer and Baxter.

There is so much that I love about your videos. But something that is, I think, life changing, is how I recognize as I watch and re-watch each one how little I know about very fundamental things. So then I go out and learn more. Thank you.

The amount of work and research you put into each video is impressive, this is by far some of the most professional documentaries I've seen, RU-vid or otherwise. Your maritime content is simply amazing and I for one thank you not just for the informative part but also to spread safety awareness.

The beginning of the video gives me absolute chills and the end of the video is 100% right in terms of the normalization of “accidents” in a dangerous industry. I’v been working in the mining industry for the past 7 years, majority underground but also some surface experience. The mining industry is very reactive when it comes to health and safety standards. What I mean by this, and assume it applies to naval or any other dangerous industry, is it takes a HUGE disaster for it to be a “wake up call” for safety standards to be reviewed and then implemented. The latter portion of your video really hits home with me is what im on about. I applaud you for being a safety instructor. Thank you for your in depth videos and hope you keep them coming!

Just stumbled across this Channel and I can just say: Amazing. Thanks for all that work and exceptional high production value for a "One Man Show" (in no way meant disrespectful).

0:08 These 'Black Box Recordings' are so haunting. Extremely tough to listen to.

Your channel is amazing! Especially the boat/marine videos. I am a full time captain, I have made my crew watch a bunch of your videos. Keep it up you do great work!

I'm Canadian and I spent many years as a civilian on a Research/Defense Research Vessel and other Canadian Navy support Vessels and I just wanted to Thank You for these videos and for a job well done. Cheers

The mayday calls at the beginning of the episodes are always haunting, can’t even begin to imagine.

I believe the recent Norfolk Southern derailment that is causing a mini chernobyl in the rust belt ought to be brought to the public attention, and could make a very good Brick Immortar video. That, if anything, is a glaring lack of safety by Norfolk Southern, and while *I* understand what happened, this bullshit with the balloons is distracting people from the lack of safety measures put in place by the railroads in the United States, resulting in what will be a decades-long environmental crisis with little repercussions to the company that caused this disaster. Edit: Just wanted to say this video is excellent. You always do a fantastic job with your work. I should have prefaced with that.

Mr. Brick Immortar, I've worked over 50 years, and about 3/4 of it was in " unsafe conditions ". I'm now subscribing to your channel as I've seen too many "accidents " that cost injuries or death that should not have happened!

I just have to share: If you do a video once more information comes out from the NTSB on the Rail Accident and associated ongoing clean up operation in East Palestine OH that it will be well received. This incident regarding the Northern Belle is chilling to watch. Your quality is superb in sharing this story. You tell us all the time that our safety matters, just want to let you know that to us your work matters. Kind regards.

I can't overstate how much I enjoy these fishing vessel stories. Another great video.

Have you guys ever considered covering any of the major sinkings on the Great Lakes, like the Carl D. Bradley, Daniel J. Morrell, or Edmund Fitzgerald?

Watching the rescue swimmer just swimming around in those waves is incredible. I wonder what they wear that they can withstand those temperatures and still be able to swim like that.

Great work Brick Immortar! RIP Captain Royer and Baxter.

Fascinating video, I'm a safety engineer specialising in the safety of naval weaponry. Normalisation as you described it, is a real issue. I'm forever arguing against people who believe that sailors "know the risks" or "know what they're doing". The reality is that most people who are injured or killed in accidents, didn't fully know the risks they are really taking and often don't know what they're doing...

Hey Sam, I've been listening/watching for quite some time, I listen to your stuff just about every day. Your information and story telling is extremely immersive and inspiring. These events like any history can be very good lessons and make you look at our infrastructure in a completely different light. I ALWAYS look forward to your content, thanks for all of your hard work!

And just when life’s getting bad. Sam saves the day with awesome content

My dad, a commercial fisherman in New England, was a brave man, fighting those seas & weather.

Former submariner here. Fisherman and women: Remember, your life MATTERS. Remember, next time you walk out of the house, look at your son, daughter, mother, and father and ask them if they think a safety issue you think is minor is of importance. I guarantee you they will give you the answer you need. Take it SERIOUSLY. You deserve better. Come home.

The high quality level of your Content is worth the wait between episodes. I’d like to ask for more frequent uploads, but I understand how much work goes into these, so just keep them coming definitely in my top five favourite creators on RU-vid.!

The fact-based narrative of this channel is outstanding. May the Captain RIP. Despite the apparent lapses, the Captain is an example of the meaning of duty.

These videos are hands down some of the best, most well researched, well delivered, and impactful videos on RU-vid. Good job and keep up the outstanding work!

Dude, I’ve been a subscriber for many years and I just want you to know that your research and eloquent narration is top notch! I’ve been in the trades and industrial environments all my life. You do accident/negligent actors/structural investigation and breakdown justice!

o7 Baxter. don't worrry you were a good boy you with your Master now to keep him company.

If we expect our food to be safe to eat, we need to ensure the people who grow, harvest, fish, slaughter, process and package that food are safe while they do the work to feed the world.

Thanks again friend. Learning how the professionals break down these problems with you has been a real help in life. Amazing how the Knowlage can be applied.

Im a car guy, dont even like boats at all, still have watched a ton of these vids. Very well developed and with tons of context and comparisons for ppl like me. Thanks for the content.

I agree with you about the safety, Sam. I served in the Navy. Our Military do every to cut the risks, We should do it for our Men and Women Maritime Sailors.

I just want to appreciate how quickly the decision was made to abandon the ship. They didn't sit around thinking it wasn't so bad. They didn't sit around thinking we'll be fine. They said, we're abandoning ship. In aviation, a lot of GA pilots die by failing to declare an emergency when they need to.

I think you real got to the core of the problem here, what we've normalized as a culture. Having been a military and civil aviator, I cannot overstate how _absolutely insane_ the amount of risk commercial mariners are willing to accept is to me. And it blows my mind what we as a culture have decided to accept in that regard. If, during an investigation after a crash, an airline was discovered to have dodged inspections for nearly thirty years, legislators, regulators, and the public would be up in arms. But when the same thing happens with a boat all you'll hear is crickets. I don't know how, but I know that it can be done because I've seen safely culture improve in other industries over the past few decades. We need to change our minds collectively about what risks are ok, and normalize a higher standard of safety for the courageous men and women who are, but shouldn't have to be, putting their lives on the line out at sea.

One my all time favorite channels. Incredible research, wonderful atmosphere, and no silly sensationalism. Please keep up the good work!