Rescue off Newfoundland Shores Underway

One person is dead and one was still missing Saturday night after the five-member crew of a fishing boat had to abandon ship off the coast of St. John’s.

RCMP learned around 4:30 p.m. local time that the Canadian Coast Guard had retrieved a body from the ocean, said RCMP Sgt. Wayne Newell.

...The missing crew member was wearing an immersion suit when the boat sank about 80 kilometres east of St. John’s, Grychowski said, although she could not say if anyone else was. Immersion suits will keep someone alive for about 36 hours in the water, she said.

...The Hercules, the coast guard vessel and two other boats will continue searching for the fifth crew member overnight, said Grychowski.

Three members of fishing boat have been airlifted to hospital after abandoning ship on Saturday morning. There was no word on two other crew members who also abandoned ship at the same time in the Atlantic east of St. John's, N.L. The three taken to hospital are suffering from mild hypothermia, local reports said. The crew of the fishing vessel Sea Gypsy Enterprise issued a call for help at around 10:45 local time on Saturday morning. The crew was wearing immersion suits before they abandoned ship.

A Cormorant helicopter out of Gander, N.L., and a Hercules aircraft out of Greenwood, N.S., were headed to the area. Grychowski says there are several commercial vessels nearby and a coast guard ship was en route to the site. The fishing boat, the Sea Gypsy Enterprise, is believed to be from Newfoundland and Labrador, but it wasn't clear why the crew abandoned the vessel.