By Kathryn Bender, Star-Bulletin
The Van Loi foundered on a reef off Kauai in April. The
Coast Guard has found that negligence on the part of the
ship's captain and mate led to the grounding. Some
14,000 gallons of diesel fuel ultimately leaked into
the ocean from the Van Loi.

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Fishing boat
skipper may
be charged

A probe finds negligence
caused April's grounding off Kauai

By Anthony Sommer
Kauai correspondent

LIHUE -- The U.S. Coast Guard has recommended that federal prosecutors consider filing criminal charges against the captain and first mate of the long-line fishing vessel Van Loi, which ran aground on Kauai on April 10, spilling 14,000 gallons of diesel fuel.

An investigation report released by the Coast Guard late yesterday found that both Capt. Hung Tuon Cao and mate Dong Nguyen were negligent and recommended "appropriate enforcement action."

Lt. Cmdr. Dan LeBlanc, who headed the investigation, said that could include criminal action.

The case is under review by U.S. attorney's office in Honolulu.

The boat was going from Oahu to Midway. The investigation found that Cao set the wrong course on his satellite-based autopilot as he was just south of Barbers Point at 4 p.m. April 9 and never checked his position again.

Twelve hours later the Van Loi went aground near Anahola, managed to get back out to sea, lost power and eventually went up on a reef near Kapaa.

Cao, Nguyen and the four crewmen aboard were rescued by the Coast Guard. A Coast Guardsman who went aboard the Van Loi to try to stop it from sinking said the captain and crew did nothing to help him but made sure all their personal belongings were placed in the rescue boat.

The investigation also found, contrary to earlier reports, that the Van Loi had an anchor that could have been used to hold the vessel off the reef -- but it was stowed below decks in an area that was flooded.

By Anthony Sommer, Star-Bulletin
Pacific Environmental Corp. crewmen tried to rig
an oil hose to the Van Loi (background) after it
ran aground in early April about 100 yards offshore
Kapaa. Heavy surf pounded the boat and flipped a
jet boat, causing the crew to call off an attempt to
pump diesel fuel from the Van Loi's tanks.

---

The investigation concluded that the first grounding was primarily due to Cao's negligence in not making "basic navigation checks" that would have made him realize he was "on a collision course with the island of Kauai."

The second grounding was largely due to the anchor not being available to be deployed, the report said.

Investigators also indicated they doubted Nguyen's story of the first grounding and suggested he may not have been on the bridge.

They said the tug Henry Senior reported there were no rain showers at the time emergency flares from the Van Loi were spotted.

"It is inconceivable to believe that the vessel was in a severe rainsquall for the entire hour before the grounding" as the crew claimed, the report states.

A navigation light on a 42-foot tower at Kahala Point was operating and should have been visible more than 11 miles away, the report added.

The investigation also found that the radar alarm Nguyen claimed did not sound as the Van Loi approached shore "tested fine" after the wreck. It is "suspect" whether the alarm was set or whether the radar was even turned on prior to the grounding, the report said.

"Nguyen was either sleeping or predisposed and not attentive to his lookout duties," the report concluded. "The evidence suggests Nguyen was negligent in his watch-standing duties."

Coast Guard official report
tracks fate of fishing boat

Here's a summary of the Coast Guard report:

Captain Hung Tuon Cao had no formal maritime training but had worked on fishing boats since age 20 and was captain of the boat for nine years. The Van Loi is owned by the Van Loi Corp. of Honolulu and was docked at Pier 17.

After clearing the southwest corner of Oahu late in the afternoon of April 9, Cao said he set the ship's autopilot on a course of 320 degrees. He did not aim toward a specific waypoint; if he had, the autopilot would have corrected for any error or wind drift.

The autopilot was recovered and showed that instead of 320 degrees it had been set at 301. Even on that course the Van Loi would have missed Kauai by about 2 miles if there were no wind or current. The wind, however, was blowing at 25-30 knots and seas were running 10-12 feet.

Cao thought the vessel would clear Kauai based on "gut instinct from years of going the same route aboard the vessel," the Coast Guard report states.

About 1 a.m., it began raining and the crew lost sight of all shore lights on Kauai. Cao went to bed at 2 a.m., leaving mate Dong Nguyen in charge.

Nguyen said just before going aground he couldn't see out the windows on the bridge because of the rain, and all that the radar showed was rain clutter.

An alarm on the radar that should have sounded as he approached shore failed to go off, he told investigators.

Nguyen said at first he thought the Van Loi had struck another vessel when it hit the reef at 4 a.m. He had no idea he was anywhere close to land. The crew, suddenly awakened, thought the vessel was about to capsize and ran to the stern to abandon ship. From there they could see the island and realized they were aground.

At 4:20 a.m. Cao called the Coast Guard by cellular telephone and reported that the Van Loi was taking on water and was in danger of sinking. At about the same time the tug Henry Senior, towing a barge from Honolulu to Nawiliwili, reported sighting two parachute flares to the north. The Coast Guard told Cao to turn on his emergency locator beacon and dispatched a helicopter from Barbers Point and a rescue boat from Kauai.

Cao was able to motor three miles out to sea before the engine stopped.

A 24-foot Coast Guard rescue boat with two men aboard launched from Kapaa at 5:15 a.m. Hindered by a fishing net it snagged in the dark and high waves, it took a half-hour to reach the Van Loi, which then was adrift two miles off shore. The Coast Guard helicopter arrived at the same time and set two pumps on the Van Loi's deck.

At 6:12 a.m. a Coast Guardsman told Nguyen to deploy the anchor to keep the Van Loi off the reef. Nguyen replied that the anchor was in a flooded compartment and could not be reached. At 8:22 a.m. the Van Loi was abandoned, and 10 minutes later it hit the reef.

The Van Loi broke apart on April 13. The Van Loi Corp. has contracted with a salvage company to remove the pieces of the wreck.

Autopilot on in many accidents The Coast Guard says there have been five other recent accidents in Hawaiian waters due to careless navigation and inattentiveness. They include: May 14, 1996: The fishing vessel Lady Chul collided with another fishing vessel, Taiyo Maru, which was anchored off Molokai. The Lady Chul was on autopilot and no one was in the wheelhouse. Both vessels were badly damaged. June 27, 1996: The fishing vessel Alice I collided with the cargo ship Obo Engin 160 miles south of Kauai. The Alice I was on autopilot and the crewman on watch did not notice the freighter's lights until it was too late. The Alice I was extensively damaged. March 4, 1997: The fishing vessel Man Seok collided with the freighter Jubilant 100 miles south of Oahu. All crew members aboard the Man Seok were asleep and the vessel was on autopilot. The Man Seok sustained extensive damage. Oct. 16, 1998: The fishing vessel Paradise Queen II ran aground off the coast of Kure Atoll. The vessel was on autopilot, and an inexperienced crewman, who may have been asleep, was on duty in the wheelhouse. The Paradise Queen was a total loss and the wreckage remains on the reef. The crew was rescued. Nov. 27, 1998: The fishing vessel Iolani collided with the freighter Settsu 200 miles southwest of Oahu. The autopilot was on and the crewman on watch was eating in the galley when the accident happened. The Iolani sank. The crew was rescued.