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one commercial fishing Blood vesselIt was carrying seven crew members and was presumed to have Massachusetts coast, prompting an intensive round-the-clock search by the U.S. Coast Guard. Rescuers are battling howling winds and frigid temperatures as they try to find survivors.
The 72-foot-long Lily Jean sounded the alarm early Friday morning about 25 miles from the port. gloucester. After receiving the distress call, the Coast Guard quickly discovered a debris field near the siren and a gruesome body in the water.
Coast Guard Commander Timothy Jones, who is coordinating the ongoing search and rescue operations, confirmed their commitment. He said: “We will continue to search with speedboats throughout the night in the hope of finding more people.” Commander Jones said that the boat “came back full of fish” and may have encountered problems with fishing gear and needed to return for repairs.
Despite the dire circumstances, Commander Jones insists they “always hope to find” survivors on the ship. However, Boston theater commander Jamie Frederick offered a more sobering assessment, acknowledging the inherent “challenging” issues of searching for people in open water after a ship sank.
“It’s the equivalent of finding coconuts in the ocean,” Frederick said.
The captain and crew have appeared on television
The Lily Jean, Captain Gus Sanfilippo and her crew were featured in a 2012 episode of the History Channel show Northeasterners. Sanfilippo is described as a fifth-generation commercial fisherman who fishes on George’s Shoal in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Crews were pictured working for hours on end in dangerous weather conditions, spending up to 10 days at sea fishing for haddock, lobster and flounder.
Gloucester is often described as the oldest operating seaport in the United States, fishery This goes back over 400 years.
The city is the filming location for “Wicked Tuna,” a reality TV show about Atlantic bluefin tuna fishermen, and has been the site of maritime tragedies over the years. Among them was FV Andrea Gail, who was lost at sea in 1991. Andrea Gail’s disappearance was the basis for the 1997 book and 2000 film The Perfect Storm. In another tragedy, the Emmy Rose sank near Provincetown, Massachusetts in 2020, killing four fishermen. On the way to Gloucester.
Republican state Sen. Bruce Tarr confirmed there were seven people on board and became emotional as he spoke about his close friend Sanfilippo.
“He was a guy with a big smile and when he saw you, he would give you a warm hug,” Tarr said. “He’s very, very good at what he does.”
“The fact that the ship is sitting on the bottom of the ocean right now is hard to comprehend,” Tarr said, but he hopes the community can come together, as it does when a tragedy like this occurs.
“This community has experienced this kind of loss in the past,” Tarr said. “I’m going to make a prediction. Whatever happens tonight, tomorrow and over the next few days, you’re going to see the forces, the forces that made this the most historic fishing port in America.”
Vito Giacalone, director of the Gloucester Fishing Community Conservation Foundation, said he had known Sanfilippo from the captain’s early days in commercial fishing and knew him as a hard worker who came from a fishing family. He said he and the fishing industry in Gloucester, a community where commercial fishing has long been a way of life, are distraught.
“He did a great job for himself. I’m proud of him,” Giacalone said. “Now that we own the marina, he parks his boat at the marina, so we see him every day. He’s been to all my children’s weddings. That’s how close we are. I have a sense of loss. A lot of us feel that way.”
Commercial fishing is a dangerous profession
Deep sea fishing in New England is always fraught with danger, but it is especially dangerous in the winter due to high surf, cold temperatures and unpredictable weather. Commercial fishing is often considered one of the most dangerous jobs in the world.
“Commercial fishing is inherently a very difficult life, but it’s safe where nature and all conditions allow,” Giacalone said. “Gus is an experienced fisherman.”
Everett Sawyer, 55, a childhood friend of Sanfilippo’s, said he is still processing the news of Sanfilippo’s disappearance. “He was a hard worker. He loved fishing,” he said.
Sawyer, who has lived and worked near the Atlantic for more than 50 years, said he knows 25 people who have been lost at sea. Cold winter conditions can complicate operations even for experienced sailors, Sawyer said.
“When you’re at sea, things happen very quickly,” he said.
Steve Ouellette, a lawyer who works with Gloucester fishermen, agreed that life for commercial fishermen was “tough and it’s unfortunate that these things happen”. “No matter how many times you see it, you are never prepared when a ship sinks with a crew on board,” Ouellette said.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Friday it was aware of a fisheries observer on board. Fisheries observers are workers on fishing vessels who collect data for governments to use in developing regulations.
“We are deeply saddened by this tragedy. NOAA Fisheries is committed to the safety and well-being of our observers. As part of this ongoing commitment, we are providing assistance and support,” said NOAA spokesman Sean McNally
The Coast Guard said it attempted to contact the vessel early Friday without success, and a search was launched that included the crew of an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter, a small boat crew and the Coast Guard cutter Thunder Bay. Helicopters were expected to be out throughout the night and fixed-wing aircraft were sent out in the morning to search for survivors, Jones said.
At the time of the emergency alert, the National Weather Service said offshore winds were about 27 mph (24 knots) and waves were about 4 feet high. The air temperature was 12 degrees (-11 degrees Celsius) and the water temperature was about 39 degrees (4 degrees Celsius).
Gloucester City Council President Tony Gross, a retired fisherman, joined other elected officials at the city’s port in calling it “a huge tragedy for this community” after learning the vessel was missing.
“These families are devastated at this point,” Gross said. “I think they’re half hopeful and half fearful.”
Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey said she was “heartbroken” to hear the news of the sinking.
“My prayers are with the crew and my thoughts are with their loved ones and all Gloucester fishing families at this terrible time,” she said in a statement. “Fishermen and fishing boats are at the heart of Gloucester and Cape Ann’s history, economy and culture, and this tragedy is being felt across the state.”
Gross described water conditions as “fishable,” but ice would quickly form on the boat. “That’s what people are thinking now, that ice accumulation is causing instability in the ship,” he said.