The U.S. Coast Guard office in American Samoa is leading a federal investigation into an incident at sea onboard a local-based fishing vessel that resulted in the death of one man and injury to another crew member.
Lieutenant Steven Caskey, supervisor of the U.S. Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit in Pago Pago, says the fishing vessel Carol Linda was located over 1,100 kilometres north of Pago Pago when the incident happend.
He says the fishing vessel is due to arrive back in Pago Pago tomorrow at which time the Coast Guard will take over the case and the investigation.
He says initial reports received by the Coast Guard is that the main mast of the vessel that holds up the boom, basically broke in half and fell on the crew members, killing one man and while another injured fisherman suffered broken bones.
The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration is also expected to conduct its own investigation into this accident.