close encounter with a ship

We were out on Saturday July 2 again at 750 Square. It is about 40 miles
off of Cape May. A container ship the Evergreen Lines Ever Refine almost ran
us down. I think sportfishermen should report these instances to the coast
guard. I am hearing too many of these stories. Even though they can't do
much about 1 instance , multiple reports will allow them to determine if
there is a pattern to these instances. Following is my letter describing the
incident that I am sending to Evergreen and the Coast Guard

Vessel Ever Refine
Dear Sir:
My son and I were fishing on Saturday July 2nd at 73.53.00 38.55.00
approximately,
when your ship Evergreen Ever Refine almost ran us down.. We were drifting
with our
lines on the starboard side of the boat. Ever Refine approached us from our
port side. The
visibility was restricted to about 1.5 miles. At first I thought the ship
would pass slightly
in front of us, but as it got closer I realized it was going to hit us
amidships. We started
the engines and accelerated to maximum power. We were able to avoid the ship
by 100
feet.

I realize that a large ship has a hard time turning and that we are not
visible to him when he is 0.5 miles away from us. There was 1.5 miles of
visibility and he should have seen us. Rule 5 of the rules of the road state
that a proper lookout by sight and all other means available should be
maintained at all times. If Ever Refine was following rule 5, why did they
not sound a danger signal ?

Rule 6 states that a vessel shall maintain a safe speed taking into account
visibility and stopping and turning ability in the prevailing conditions. If
they were traveling too fast they violated rule 6.

I am unclear how restricted visibility must be to sound fog signals but Ever
refine was not sounding any. Rule 35 states that fog signals should be used
in or near any ares of restricted visibility. 1.5 miles was the maximum
visibility that day. Many nearby areas were restricted to ¼ mile of less.

I am sending a copy of this letter to the US Coast Guard Group, Cape May,
NJ. I also am going to make sport fishermen in this area aware of the
incident and encourage them to report all such encounters to the Coast Guard
to build a case history. I also am going to publicize the incident on the
internet to make all aware of your disregard for human life and safety. You
should inform your captains that even though you are a big company with big
ships, you do not own the ocean.

Sincerely


Captain John W Eppehimer

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