Five fishermen were plucked from a big chunk of ice in Notre Dame Bay off the coast of Newfoundland Sunday evening after they abandoned their vessel. The five decided to abandon ship when it started rapidly taking on water.
They boarded a raft and were able to get to an ice floe where they started a fire and waited for help to come. Search and rescue technicians managed to hoist all five crew members onto a Cormorant helicopter. None needed medical attention.
Huge patrol area
On Canada’s Atlantic coast, search and rescue is controlled by the Defense Department but the Canadian Coast Guard provides the personnel, equipment and infrastructure. The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia is responsible for all marine emergencies in eastern Canada. It covers an area of approximately 4.7 million square kilometres.
Even Canadians are sometimes stunned to realize first, what a huge country it is and second, how dangerous fishing can be.
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