HALIFAX — All four fishers who were aboard an 18-metre boat that capsized near Halifax on Thursday have been found, but their health condition has not been released.
Rescuers found three crew members Thursday night, one of whom was unconscious, and the fourth was located in a raft on Friday and was “unresponsive,” says Lt.-Cmdr. Len Hickey of the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre.
All four have been taken to hospital, but their condition is unknown.
“Last night there were very unfavourable searching conditions with low visibility and high swells,” Hickey said in an interview Friday. The search and rescue operation included two coast guard vessels — the Hare Bay and the Sir William Alexander — a Cormorant helicopter and a Hercules plane.
Hickey said he wasn't sure whether the three crew members picked up Thursday by the Hare Bay were found in the water or on a raft.
Rescue efforts were launched after a signal from an emergency beacon was picked up around 10 p.m. Thursday originating about 18 kilometres southeast of Sambro, N.S., Hickey said.
The capsized vessel is called the Fortune Pride, owned by Chester Basin Seafoods, headquartered in Bridgewater, N.S. Company owner Jose Teixeira said he has few details about what happened.
“We don’t know what caused it,” he said Friday. “The vessel was on its way in from the fishing grounds to off-load this morning, that’s all we know.”
Meanwhile, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada said that it was sending a team to investigate the capsizing of the Fortune Pride. “The TSB will gather information and assess the occurrence,” the agency said in an advisory issued Friday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 7, 2025.
Keith Doucette, The Canadian Press
