Unalaska, AK – The Coast Guard's Marine Board of Investigation heard the final day of testimony in the investigation of the Katmai sinking on Monday. Seven of the 11 crew members died when the catcher-processor went down on October 22, 2008. Investigation chair Commander Malcolm McLellan said that the survivors testified that water entered the lazarette through either an open or leaking door.

"They knew there was water in the lazaret, or the steering gear room. When that was reported the chief engineer went down and checked the engine room to start dewatering the lazaret and said he thought there was a couple of feet of water in the engine room," he said. "It was also reported that the fish processing room had some water in there. They said not necessarily that it was the cause. But then the boat seemed sluggish in the water and started to roll and went down by the stern as she rolled. We don't know if that was the total cause or if it was a combination with wind and environmental factors. We just don't know yet."

During the investigation the board heard testimony from the survivors, the ship's owners, previous crew members and engineers, and others. They've also examined a similar ship to see how water could have moved from one area to the next. They'll use all of the information to create an electronic model of the ship to try to fully identify the cause of the sinking.

"The ultimate goal is to narrow down what exactly happened on the Katmai before she sank, what caused her to sink, and is there anything that can be done to prevent future accidents from happening and anything that can be done to ensure the safety of the crew when they have to abandon ship," McLellan said. "That's the ultimate goal, to prevent things from happening again."

McLellan said previous crew members testified to problems with maintenance and water tight doors on the ship but the ship passed all safety tests and the survivors said they thought the ship was completely safe.

The board also wanted to know why one of the life rafts did not inflate and the inflation bottle was found disconnected. The life rafter servicers testified that they did not know.

The full analysis of the testimony and other data will be completed and released in 3 to 6 months.