2 mariners dead after N.L. tug sinking

The sinking of a tug in an eastern Newfoundland bay claimed the lives of two men late Thursday night.

The Canadian Coast Guard's rescue centre received a garbled distress call at about 10 p.m. indicating there was a sinking in Trinity Bay.

The men reported that they were abandoning ship and trying to get into a life-raft.

Rescue co-ordinator Chris Fitzgerald said the centre was able to pinpoint the position of the vessel. About 90 minutes later, a Cormorant helicopter from Gander and the coast guard ship George R. Pearkes were on the scene, near Baccalieu Island.

When crews arrived, they spotted strobe lights on the men's survival suits, bobbing in two-metre waves.

"We do believe … that one of them had some life in him, but they were unable to revive him," Fitzgerald said. 

Police identified the two as Larry Parsons, 69, the mayor of Lumsden, a small community on Newfoundland's northeast coast, and Christopher Wade Oram, 32, a resident of Badger's Quay.

The men had been sailing the tug Check-Mate III from northern Labrador to St. John's, where it was going to be transferred to a new owner.

The George R. Pearkes arrived in St. John's Friday morning with the bodies of the two men.

The Check-Mate III, an 11.7-metre pilot boat built in 1987, formerly sailed out of Wesleyville.