The U.S. Coast Guard on Saturday suspended the search for seven people who were aboard a commercial fishing vessel that sank off the coast of Massachusetts in rough, frigid waters.
The Coast Guard launched a search and rescue mission early Friday after receiving an alert from the 72-foot Lily Jean about 25 miles off Cape Ann. Searchers found a debris field near where the alert was sent along with a body in the water and an empty life raft, the Coast Guard said.
The mission covered about 1,000 square miles using multiple aircraft, cutters and small boats over a 24-hour period. But after consultation between mission coordinators and on-scene commanders, the Coast Guard announced Saturday it had determined that all reasonable search efforts for the missing crew members had been exhausted.
Officials said there wasn’t a mayday call from Lily Jean as it navigated the frigid Atlantic Ocean on its way home to Gloucester, Mass., America’s oldest fishing port. The Coast Guard was notified by the boat’s beacon that alerts when it hits the water.
The Coast Guard is investigating the cause of the sinking. Officials did not immediately release the names of those who were lost.
“We are deep in sorrow, but we are a strong community, and we will rise, we will rise to this occasion,” Massachusetts state Sen. Bruce Tarr said during an emotional news conference Saturday.
The Coast Guard’s Sector Boston commander, Jamie Frederick, said frigid temperatures and stormy conditions made finding survivors at night difficult, a task made more challenging with a nor’easter approaching the East Coast this weekend. Searchers dealt with 7- to 10-foot seas and freezing ocean spray, Frederick said.
At the time of the emergency alert, the National Weather Service said wind speeds out at sea were around 27 mph with waves around 4 feet high. It was 12 degrees with water temperatures about 39.
Frederick said there was “no single clue” to lead officials to determine what happened to the Lily Jean so far.
“The debris looked like anything that would be loose on a deck, things that float off a fishing deck,” he said.
It is the latest maritime tragedy to befall Gloucester and its close-knit community of people in the fishing business. The city that inspired “The Perfect Storm” is tied to its fishing heritage in a way that has brought 400 years of history and, sometimes, tragedy. That book and movie were inspired by the FV Andrea Gail, which went missing at sea in 1991.
Vito Giacalone, head of the Gloucester Fishing Community Preservation Fund, described the fishing community as a brotherhood that was grieving and in shock.
“Everybody’s just heartbroken,” Giacalone told the Associated Press in a phone interview Saturday. “To have that many lives lost all at once, we haven’t seen that in a long time.”
Paul Lundberg, Gloucester’s mayor, said the names of those on the Lily Jean would be added to a city memorial honoring thousands of fishermen who have been lost at sea.
The Lily Jean, its captain, Gus Sanfilippo, and his crew were featured in a 2012 episode of the History Channel show “Nor’Easter Men.” Sanfilippo is described as a fifth-generation commercial fisherman, fishing out of Gloucester in the Georges Bank. The crew is shown working in dangerous weather conditions for hours on end, spending as many as 10 days at sea on one trip fishing for haddock, lobster and flounder.
“We loved each other,” Giacalone said about his relationship with Sanfilippo. “He treated me like a big brother and I treated him like my younger brother. To know the tragedy of this and to know the kind of character that Gus had, he’d be mortified to know that these lives were all lost.”
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said it was aware that there was a fishery observer aboard the vessel. Fishery observers are workers who collect data on board fishing boats for the government to use to inform regulations.
NOAA Fisheries said observer deployments would be suspended until after midnight Wednesday due to the sinking and the weather in the Northeast.
Deep-sea fishing off New England can always be hazardous, but it can be especially dangerous in the winter because of high waves, frigid temperatures and unpredictable weather. Commercial fishing is often cited as one of the most dangerous jobs in the world.
Everett Sawyer, 55, a childhood friend of Sanfilippo, said he has known 25 people who were lost at sea. Cold winter conditions can complicate operations even for experienced sailors, Sawyer said.
“Things happen very quickly when you’re out on the ocean,” he said.
Casey, Ngowi and Whittle write for the Associated Press and reported from Boston, Gloucester and Portland, Maine, respectively. AP writer Adrian Sainz in Memphis, Tenn., contributed to this report.
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