Two Experienced Fishermen Die in Capsizing Off Nova Scotia
The owner of the fishing vessel that capsized off Nova Scotia last week has identified the two crewmembers who lost their lives while awaiting rescue. One of the victims was a well-respected skipper with five decades of experience.
At about 2200 hours on Thursday night, the Joint Rescue Coordination Center in Halifax received an EPIRB signal from the 18-meter fishing vessel Fortune Pride, located about 10 nautical miles southeast of her homeport of Sambro, Nova Scotia. The center mobilized two rescue vessels to the scene, along with a Cormorant SAR helicopter and a Hercules search plane. Conditions were difficult, including 12-foot swells, fog and rain.
One rescue vessel found three survivors on Thursday night, including one who was unconscious. They were evacuated to a hospital, and one later passed away.
The next morning, a helicopter aircrew found an additional crewmember in a life raft. The man was unresponsive when rescued and was later pronounced dead.
On Saturday, the owner of the Fortune Pride released the names of the deceased: skipper John Allen Baker, a well-known and respected name in Atlantic Canada's fishing industry; and deckhand Phil MacInnis. The two other crewmembers have been released from the hospital and are in good physical health.
At the time of the capsizing, Fortune Pride was reportedly carrying about 20 tonnes of silver hake and was standing by offshore. The owner's last contact with Baker was about an hour and a half before the sinking, and at the time, the skipper reported no issues; he was waiting for daylight to make the transit into port.
Canada's Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of the casualty. The owner has stressed that the vessel was in good material condition prior to the capsizing. "It was a good, seaworthy, steel boat. That boat has been at sea for a long time," owner Jose Teixeira told the Canadian Press.
Baker was a local legend in Nova Scotia's fisheries. He had five decades of experience on all types of fishing vessels, and his services as a skipper were in demand. He had survived a previous sinking in 2013: While he was serving as skipper aboard the fishing vessel Gentle Lady, a heavy load of sea cucumber shifted in heavy swells. The crew fought to correct it, but the boat took on a port list, flooded and capsized. Baker and his crew abandoned ship into a liferaft and were adrift at sea for six hours before a Good Samaritan rescued them.
According to local legend, Baker later recovered the wallet he had left in Gentle Lady's wheelhouse in the rush to abandon ship. Four years later, it came up from the bottom while he was dragging for clams on another vessel.