Crewman missing from vessel with troubled history
ANCHORAGE - A crewman is missing from a fishing boat on which the crew mutinied last year, tying up the skipper because they feared for their safety.
Robert G. Lane, 35, of Anchorage, fell overboard off the Hunter early Friday morning somewhere between King Cove and Sand Point near the tip of the Alaska Peninsula.
His disappearance was not reported for nearly 12 hours until skipper Joseph G. Kuzmin, 28, piloted the Hunter to Sand Point.
"He indicated to us that the gentleman had gone out to the outer deck to smoke," said Coast Guard spokesman Roger Wetherell.
Kuzmin and Lane were the only crew on board the 41-foot fiberglass vessel.
Kuzmin initially told the Coast Guard he made a radio transmission reporting Lane overboard, Wetherell said. However, after more questioning, he told investigators his radio and radar were malfunctioning.
Kuzmin told investigators he searched for Lane for five hours.
The Coast Guard was notified at 3:53 p.m. Friday. The agency launched an aerial search for Lane at 5:25 p.m. and suspended it at 9:45 p.m.
Sand Point is 570 miles southwest of Anchorage on Popof Island.
The Coast Guard is investigating the circumstances at sea, Wetherell said. Alaska State Troopers and Sand Point police also are reviewing the incident.
Kuzmin was arrested on March 26, 2003, near Kodiak after he reported to troopers that he has being held at gunpoint by his crew. Crew members told officers that Kuzmin "had poked them with scissors, threatened them with screwdrivers and knives and ... handled his guns quite a bit while threatening them," spokesman Greg Wilkinson said last year.
Kuzmin pleaded no contest to fourth-degree assault and misconduct involving a weapon.