Rescuers were met with waves up to four-metres high and strong winds on Thursday night when a fishing vessel capsized near Halifax.
Four crew members 18-metre Fortune Pride have been located: three on Thursday night and one at 11:30 a.m. on Friday, according to Kelsey Marshall of the Canadian Coast Guard.
“It was not a good day to be out on the water for sure,” Marshall said, who said the water temperature was about 2 C.
On Friday, the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifax said it responded to an emergency beacon at around 10 p.m. Thursday.
The location of the beacon was approximately 18 kilometres southeast of Sambro, N.S.
“The vessel itself was unable to get a radio call out, so the first indication we had was that emergency beacon … it was registered, so we were able to contact the right people that were associated with that registration and find out what was going on and how many people were on board,” Marshall said.
Two coast guard vessels, the CCGS Hare Bay and the CCGS Sir William Alexander, were involved in the rescue efforts, in addition to a Cormorant helicopter and a Hercules fixed-wing aircraft, said the JRCC.
Marshall said the first three people who were rescued were unable to articulate what happened.
She said while the crew was able to get the life-raft off the fishing vessel, they weren’t able to get on it because of rough seas.
Rescuers did not see the fishing vessel when they arrived on scene, Marshall said.
“The float-free beacon would have deployed as soon as the boat sank so that was our only indication that the vessel was in trouble,” Marshall said.
Marshall said she did not know the current state of the crew.
In an email sent around 11:40 a.m., the JRCC said the fourth missing person was found on a life-raft Friday morning and was being transported to hospital via a Cormorant helicopter.
The individual was “unfortunately unresponsive” when taken aboard the aircraft, said Lt.-Cmdr. Len Hickey, JRCC senior public affairs officer.
The JRCC previously told CBC News the CCGS Hare Bay had “recovered” three other crew members, two conscious and the third unconscious. They were all taken to hospital.
Marshall said the fourth person who was found on Friday morning was in the life-raft that had overturned. She said the three members who were found on Thursday night were wearing survival suits.
“And that was a contributing factor to why they were found alive and able to be brought on board,” Marshall said. “The fourth member did not have a survival suit on.”
The Fortune Pride is owned by Chester Basin Seafoods. The company declined to comment on the matter out of respect for the family members of those involved.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada said Friday it will deploy a team of investigators to investigate the accident.
Marshall said she didn’t know all the details of the fishing trip, but did confirm the vessel had left from Sambro.
