The fishing vessel Norseman sank in June 1978 in Princess Royal Channel, approximately 11 miles (18 km) southeast of Butedale and 115 miles (185 km) southeast of Prince Rupert, British Columbia. Princess Royal Channel, located on the north coast of British Columbia, separates Princess Royal Island from the mainland. The channel’s southern half is known as Graham Reach, while the northern half is called Fraser Reach. Captain George Vancouver first charted the southern half in 1793, using his ships, HMS Discovery and HMS Chatham. They anchored approximately midway along the channel. That same summer, James Johnstone, one of Vancouver’s lieutenants, charted the northern half.

The Norseman was built in 1973 as a crabber/tender, a type of fishing vessel designed primarily for catching crabs and but can also transport fish from smaller boats to processing facilities or larger vessels. In 1978, the vessel was transiting to the Bering Sea via the Inside Passage. Reportedly, the helmsman fell asleep, causing the steel crabber to run aground on the rocky eastern shore of the fjord, just north of Asher Point. Although stunned, the crew managed to reach the shore safely. As they watched, the Norseman quickly filled with water and slid stern-first down the steep eastern slope of Graham Reach, and came to rest precariously on a rocky pinnacle at a depth of 400 feet (122 m).

In 1979, Doug Anderson attempted to salvage the Norseman after previously raising a 65-foot (19.8-m) vessel from 195 feet (60 m) of water using railroad tank cars for buoyancy. Profits from that job enabled him to buy a used tugboat for the Norseman‘s recovery. The salvage operation, which took five months, was hindered by bad weather and the site’s remoteness. Once the Norseman was brought to the surface, the crew patched a hole in the bow and towed her to Seattle, where she was sold for a profit. The Norseman returned to fishing and gained fame as an Alaskan highliner in the Bering Sea. In 2005, she was converted into a charter research vessel and operated in Southeast Alaska, Prince William Sound, the Gulf of Alaska, Cook Inlet, the Aleutian Islands, and the Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort Seas. In 2019, the vessel was sold, renamed Steadfast, and continues operating as a research support vessel. Read more here and here. Explore more of Princess Royal Channel here: