Grief washed over Gloucester on Saturday morning as the Coast Guard suspended its search for six people missing after the fishing vessel Lily Jean went down Friday morning.
A seventh crew member was found dead Friday morning.
The U.S. Coast Guard said it suspended the search Saturday morning after efforts yielded no additional results. That search, using multiple aircraft, cutters, and small boats covered more than 1,000 square miles in what Capt. Jamie Frederick, commander of Coast Guard Sector Boston, called “extremely challenging and dangerous conditions.”
“Five crew members and one NOAA observer remain missing,” he said at press conference Saturday afternoon in Gloucester. Frederick said until most family members are contacted, the missing will not be officially identified, which could happen Monday.
“This is an incredibly difficult and painstaking decision, but based on the totality of the circumstances, including the frigid water and air temperatures, the length of time since the vessel sank, the recovery of one crew member not wearing a survival suit and the discovery of an empty life raft and the exhaustive scope of the search, I believe there is no longer any expectation that anyone could have survived this long, even if they had been wearing a survival suit,” Frederick said.
The Lily Jean was one of a small group of boats that left port early last week, said Vito Giacalone, of the Gloucester Fishing Community Preservation Fund. One vessel had already returned with its catch, when the captain of the Lily Jean decided to return, he said.
The search began about 40 minutes after the Coast Guard received a signal from emergency position-indicating radio beacon at 6:50 a.m. Friday from the 72-foot fishing vessel, approximately 25 miles off the coast of Cape Ann, when a Coast Guard helicopter arrived on the scene, Frederick said. That’s when the one crewman recovered was found as were an empty life raft and a debris field of items usually found on a deck.
Both the beacon and life rafts are items that do not need human intervention to be deployed, said state Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr of Gloucester.
Frederick said the Coast Guard has initiated a formal marine casualty investigation, lead by the Northeast Coast Guard District and will be working with National Transportation Safety Board,, Caual factors of surround sinkingo fLJ who own to the families, maritime community and the public to understand whta happened
“We recognize that Gloucester is a tight-knit community where fishing has been a way of life for 400 years”, Frederick said. “And this tragedy is felt deeply not only amongst the families and loved ones of those aboard the Lily Jean but by the entire community. We mourn alongside Gloucester and stand with those who those of you grieving.”
This story will be updated at gloucestertimes.com. Andrea Holbrook may be contacted at aholbrook@gloucestertimes.com.