Atlantic Charger lost, but rescued fishing crew coming home from Frobisher Bay

Rescuers who saved nine crewmen near the mouth of Frobisher Bay in Nunavutyesterdaybattled "wild North Atlantic waters in one of the roughest and coldest" areas of the world, one of the Royal Canadian Navy's top brass said to update the situation this morning.

"By all reports, they're feeling pretty good right now," saidHalifax-basedRear-AdmiralJohn Newton, commander of Maritime Forces Atlantic and the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre (JRCC).

He said the crew has beentransferred to a Canadian coast guard vessel that will steam the crew home. They're expected to arrive in Harbour Grace, N.L., sometime on Friday.

"I will admit there are some high-fives that go around," said Newton."At the same time, we have other cases going on. We can't take our eye off the ball."

Newton said "this has been a very busy year" forJRCC. He said this rescue shows theskill and dedication of the Coast Guard men and women involved in rescue efforts on Canada's east coast.

'They haven't got nothing'

IonaYoung, the wife offishermen Gerard Young, said she spoke to her husbandat about 12:30 a.m. AT Tuesday.

"They haven't got nothing left. Only the clothes on their back, that's all," she said.

"We don't care what they lost, as long as we got them coming home."

The turbot-ladenvessel Atlantic Charger began taking on wateroff Resolution Islandearly Monday, forcing the nine-member crew from Newfoundland and Labrador to declare an emergency andscramble into a life-raft.

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"So many of them only just had their pyjama pants on, that's all. They had to rush and get their [immersion] suits on," said Young.

Crew 'did a lot of things right'

The closest ship was located about eight hours away from the time the distress call was sent out.

Coast guard officerScott Burgwin, control officer for the Maritimes, said the crew spent a tense 12 hours waiting for help.

"The problem with this area of the world is that it's quite vast,"hesaid about challenges rescuers face.

Inaddition to the vastness, rescuers were forced to attempt to save the nine-person crew while battlingnorthwest winds of between 35 and 45 knots, with battering waves of three or four metres.

Newton said it was a massive operation, but that the crew "did a lot of things right":

• They gave rescuers the information they needed to find them quickly.
• They all had immersion suits.
• They had trained for emergencies such as this.
• Thecrew abandoned ship at the right time,
• They knew how to manage the raft to get the gear dropped from the air so they could be rescued.

The crew wasrescued by a Danish ship Monday evening, and were being taken to Iqaluit, a journey of about 400 kilometres.

The vessel, with men from the New World Island area as crew,was in the area fishing a 200-tonne quota of turbot.

The latest reports say the vessel is partially submerged, leaving open the possibility it may be recovered.

The Charger caused quite a buzz in Newfoundland and Labrador's fishing communitywhen it was launched in 2013 at a cost of some $2.5 million.