A commercial fishing vessel carrying seven crew members is believed to have sunk off the coast of Massachusetts, prompting an intensive, 24-hour search by the U.S. Coast Guard. Rescuers battle howling winds and frigid temperatures in their efforts to locate survivors.
The 70-foot Lily Jean sounded an alarm early Friday morning about 25 miles from Gloucester Harbour. Following the distress signal, Coast Guard teams quickly found a debris field near the alarm, in addition to the grim discovery of a body in the water.
Coast Guard Commander Timothy Jones, who is coordinating the ongoing search and rescue operation, confirmed their efforts. He stated: “We will continue searching all night with the cutter, hoping to find more people along the way.” Commander Jones indicated that the vessel “returned full of fish” and may have encountered problems with its fishing gear, requiring it to be returned for repairs.
Despite the harsh conditions, Commander Jones insisted they “always hoped” to find survivors from the ship. However, Sector Commander Jamie Frederick of Boston offered a more sobering assessment, acknowledging the “challenging” problems inherent in searching for individuals in open waters after a ship has sunk.
“That’s the equivalent of looking for a coconut in the ocean,” Frederick said.
Captain and crew were featured on a TV program
The Lily Jean, its captain, Gus Sanfilippo, and its crew were featured in a 2012 episode of the History Channel show Nor’Easter men. Sanfilippo is described as a fifth-generation commercial fisherman who fishes out of Gloucester, Massachusetts, in the Georges Bank. The crew works for hours in dangerous weather conditions and spends as many as ten days at sea fishing for haddock, lobster and flounder during one trip.
Gloucester is often described as America’s oldest working seaport, with a fishing industry dating back more than 400 years.
The town, home to the reality TV show “Wicked Tuna” about Atlantic bluefin tuna fishermen, has been the scene of maritime tragedies over the years. Among them was the FV Andrea Gail, which went missing at sea in 1991. The loss of the Andrea Gail was the basis for the 1997 book and 2000 film “The Perfect Storm.” In another tragedy, four fishermen died when the Emmy Rose sank off the coast of Provincetown, Massachusetts, in 2020. on the way to Gloucester.
Republican Senator Bruce Tarr, who confirmed there were seven people on the ship, became emotional as he spoke about Sanfilippo, who was a close friend.
“He’s a guy with a big smile and he hugs you warmly when he sees you,” Tarr said. “He is very skilled at what he does.”
Tarr said that “the fact that the ship is now at the bottom of the ocean is very difficult to understand.” But he expected the community to come together, as it always does in such tragedies.
“This is a community that has felt this kind of loss in the past,” Tarr said. “I’m going to make a prediction. Tonight, tomorrow and the days to come, whatever happens, you will see the power, power that has made this the most historic fishing port in the United States.”
Vito Giacalone, head of the Gloucester Fishing Community Preservation Fund, said he knows Sanfilippo from the captain’s early days in commercial fishing and knew him as a hard worker 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 well for himself. I was proud of him,” Giacalone said. “And now that we own the dock, he moors his boat at the dock so we see him every day. He’s been to all my children’s weddings. That’s how close we were. I feel a sense of loss. A lot of us do.”
Commercial fishing is a dangerous profession
Deep sea fishing in New England can be dangerous at any time, but it can be especially dangerous in the winter due to the high waves, cold temperatures and unpredictable weather. Commercial fishing is often cited as one of the most dangerous jobs in the world.
“Commercial fishing is a very hard life to begin with, and it’s only as safe as the elements and all things allow,” Giacalone said. “Gus was a very experienced fisherman.”
Everett Sawyer, 55, a childhood friend of Sanfilippo, said he is still processing the news of his disappearance. “He worked hard. He loved fishing,” he said.
After living and working near the Atlantic Ocean for more than five decades, Sawyer said he has known 25 people who have been lost at sea. Cold winter conditions can complicate operations even for experienced sailors, Sawyer said.
“Things happen very quickly when you’re on the ocean,” he said.
Steve Ouellette, a lawyer who works with fishermen in Gloucester, agreed that commercial fishermen lead “tough lives and unfortunately these things happen.” “No matter how many times you’ve seen it, you’re never ready for a crewed boat to go down,” Ouellette said.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Friday it was aware a fisheries observer was aboard the ship. Fisheries observers are workers who collect data aboard fishing boats that the government can use to inform regulations.
“We are deeply saddened by the tragedy. NOAA Fisheries is committed to the safety and well-being of observers. As part of this ongoing commitment, we are providing assistance and support,” said NOAA spokesperson Sean McNally.
The Coast Guard said it tried unsuccessfully to contact the ship early Friday and then launched a search that included an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew, a small boat crew and the Coast Guard Cutter Thunder Bay. It expected the cutter to be out all night and a fixed-wing aircraft to search for survivors in the morning, Jones said.
At the time of the emergency warning, the National Weather Service said offshore wind speeds were around 24 knots (27 mph) with waves about four feet high. It was 12 degrees (-11 Celsius) with water temperatures of about 39 degrees (4 degrees Celsius).
Gloucester City Council President Tony Gross, a retired fisherman who joined other elected officials at the city’s docks after learning of the missing boat, called it a “huge tragedy for this community.”
“The families are just devastated right now,” Gross said. “They’re half full of hope and half full of fear, I imagine.”
Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey said she was “heartbroken” when she heard the boat had sunk.
“My prayers are for the crew and my heart goes out to their loved ones and all the fishing families in Gloucester at this terrible time,” she said in a statement. “Fishermen and fishing vessels 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 that it wouldn’t take much for ice to form on the ship. “That’s what people think now: that there was ice buildup and that made the boat unstable,” he said.
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