OTTAWA – The situation looks dire for the crew of the Atlantic Destiny. A fire first switched off the power on board the scallop trailer and then started ingesting water. More than 130 kilometers from its home port in Nova Scotia, the 144-foot-long ship has hopelessly up and down waves of 40 to 80 feet high.
But while the Atlantic Destiny eventually sank, a joint rescue effort by Canada and the United States meant all of its 32 crew members were rescued before it went off.
“The weather was probably one of the worst weather in which I performed an elevator operation,” said Cmdr. David McCown, a pilot on a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter who rescued 13 of the ship’s crew.
The rescue effort began when the Atlantic density sent an emergency call on Tuesday due to the fire. Ships from the United States and the Canadian Coast Guard were sent; the Royal Canadian Air Force sent two rescue helicopters and a Nova Scotia plane, while a few more helicopters and a plane took off from a U.S. Coast Guard base in Cape Cod.
Kmdt. Aaron O’Brien, the chief officer of a Canadian Coast Guard ship, the Cape Roger, traveled overnight to reach the sinking trailer. He lay about 11 hours ahead, with crosswinds of up to 90 miles per hour, and sailed against the wind through rough seas he would normally cross at an almost running pace. There was no time to waste.
“In such a case, every moment counts,” Commandant O’Brien said. “We hammered as much as possible.”
The Canadian Air Force arrived first and completed the dangerous task of dropping two search and rescue technicians on the sinking fishing vessel. While one prepared the crew for evacuation, the other one worked to slow down the ship’s intake of water.
The rescue began by lifting crew members who were placed in a rescue basket in a helicopter, a maneuver that had to be coordinated with the great ocean swells. Commander McCown said the pilots and their crew used night-vision goggles to watch the waves, sometimes the height of an apartment building, during the process.
Because the crew of the fishing vessel could stay on board and out of the icy water, Commander McCown said they were mostly in good condition when they were shaken a lot.
When his helicopter reached its weight limit with 13 members of the crew of the sinking ship, he immediately undertook the long flight to Nova Scotia. When it landed, he estimated that there was only enough fuel left for another 40 minutes of flight.
Two other helicopters rescued another 15.
One helicopter was left behind, while the two search and rescue technicians of the Canadian Army and four crew members of Atlantic Destiny remained on the sinking ship in an attempt to save it by pumping out water.
But early Wednesday morning, they also decide it’s time to leave.
Capt. Malcolm Grieve of the Canadian Air Force tried to catch the remaining six in an effort that was difficult. When his helicopter dropped a steel cable to begin the process, the cable wrapped around a railing on the ship and had to be cut loose immediately. As a result, all his crew were able to lower some lifeboats and first aid kits and wait until the Cape Roger would arrive after his entire night journey.
It appeared around 7:30 p.m.
The last people on board, including the captain, climbed down a tow ladder in an inflatable boat sent from the Coast Guard ship around eight o’clock in the morning. Two and a half hours later, the Atlantic density drops.
“It was a total relief from my shoulders,” Commandant O’Brien said of the successful rescue. “I’m just grateful we were able to help someone in need and that we were really there at the right time.”