THE US Coast Guard has again delayed releasing its report on the sinking of the trawler Arctic Rose which was lost with her crew in the Bering Sea on April 2, 2001.

Originally the report was to be released last March, but it was moved to June to provide more time to analyse data.

The Coast Guard now says that no time will be set for the release of the report.

No Mayday was issued by her 15-man crew or any other indication given that the 92 ft. vessel was in trouble the night Arctic Rose sank.

A Coast Guard board of inquiry met several times in Alaska and Seattle to gather facts about Arctic Rose from former crewmembers, yard workers, marine engineers and the vessel's owner.

Witnesses at the hearings said Arctic Rose had been hampered during the winter fishery by bad weather, poor fishing and a combination of mechanical and stability problems stemming from her conversion from a Gulf of Mexico shrimpers to a head and gut Bering Sea trawler.

Former crewmembers have mentioned that a watertight hatch was normally roped-open.

"When you start investigating a sinking like Arctic Rose, when there are no survivors, witnesses or radio communications, it is a process of elimination. You start with this huge list of every conceivable possibility and try to eliminate them, hoping what you have left is the cause, " US Coast Guard Cmdr. John Bingaman tells FNI.

The loss of Arctic Rose was the Bering Sea's fisheries' worst tragedies in decades. However, the fishery is plagued by crew injuries as well, brought on in part due to its Olympic-style fishery.

The Groundfish Forum - which represents the majority of the Bering Sea groundfish fleet - has been recently meeting with the North Pacific Fishery Management Council to establish new rules such as establishing IFQs for both catch and by-catch to lower the chances of yet another Arctic Rose disaster, "The current harvest system is archaic and we've now had that for 20 years, " says Dave Fluharty, a University of Washington professor who serves on the council.

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Arctic Rose loss still a mystery