2 tugboat crew members killed in 'confined space incident' on barge, Coast Guard says

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ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Two crew members of a tugboat were killed and two others were injured in what the Coast Guard described Wednesday as a “confined space incident” aboard a barge moored in southeast Alaska last weekend.

A Coast Guard news release provided limited details about what happened to the four, but said they were in a confined space aboard the freight barge Waynehoe on Sunday when other crew members from their tug, the Chukchi Sea, lost contact with them. The barge was moored about 25 miles (40 kilometers) northwest of Ketchikan.

The parents of Sidney Mohorovich, one of the victims, said they were told by Coast Guard officials there was methane gas present in the confined space.

“We don’t know why the series of events that led to all the people being in the confined space, if they all like went down as a team or in separate stages," Todd Mohorovich told The Associated Press by phone from his home in Sedro-Woolley, Washington. "I have no information on that, but what I can tell you is that the confined space had high levels of methane gas in it.”

He did not know the source of the gas or why it was present. The Coast Guard did not immediately respond to an email seeking confirmation of the presence of methane gas.

Todd and Eva Mohorovich last spoke to their son Saturday night where he told them about impending bad weather. “He said that the barge was in a spot where they were going to be able to be sheltered from that storm,” Todd Mohorovich said.

The crew planned to perform normal deck duties to make sure everything was secured ahead of the storm.

Federal regulations define “confined space” on a vessel as “a compartment of small size and limited access such as a double bottom tank ... or other space which by its small size and confined nature can readily create or aggravate a hazardous exposure." That could include a lack of oxygen.

The tugboat crew called the Coast Guard for help and managed to recover one of the dead crew members from the space and helped the two survivors out before the rescue team arrived.

The barge was then towed to Ketchikan, where the confined space “was able to be safely cleared for the recovery of the second deceased crew member,” Coast Guard spokesperson Alexander Ransom told AP in an email.

The causes of death were not released, and the bodies were sent to Anchorage for autopsies.

Sidney Mohorovich, 28, was one month into his new job with Hamilton Marine Construction.

The company didn't return a message seeking comment.

Mohorovich, a large equipment mechanic, was on his first job in Alaska. He lived in Deming, Washington, with his fiance ahead of their planned June wedding.

He previously was a logger and welder, and before that he learned how to build houses and do electrical work. “He could pretty much figure anything out," his mother said.

“He was loved by so many,” Eva Mohorovich said of her son's outgoing personality. “Just an exceptional human being, smarty, witty, funny, loving.”

It was in his heart to lend a hand to people in need, and he was unselfish in so many ways, his father said..

“We’re just really thankful for who he was," Todd Mohorovich said. “I wouldn’t change a thing in the life that we’ve all shared together, regardless of this the tragedy at this time. If we were to change something, it would lead to other changes that we don’t know about.”

The two survivors were reported to be in good condition, Ransom said, changing their conditions from stable as the guard advised in an earlier release. The other man killed was identified as Ben Fowler.