Broad changes proposed for search and rescue at sea

The Canadian Coast Guard said Friday it followed proper procedures when four crew members drowned off Newfoundland's northeast coast, although a new report outlinednearly three dozen ways to improve search-and-rescue operations at sea.

The men drowned on Sept. 12, 2005, when the longliner Melina and Keith II sank off the coast of Bonavista.

After search-and-rescue authorities received the distress call, it took more than an hourto get a helicopter in the air.

The four survivors were rescued almost four hours after the vessel went down.

John Butler, regional director of the coast guard in Newfoundland and Labrador, said that despite the loss of life, protocols were followed appropriately.

"But those standards and procedures could be improved," said Burton. He said a VMS vessel monitoring system "may have located the vessel sooner."

The report, released Friday,includes proposals for sweeping changes, ranging from how rescue helicopters are dispatched, to more staffand more intensive training.

Butler, however, could not comment on what influence such changes might have had on the outcome of the Melina and Keith II sinking.

"To say additional lives would have been saved— it's speculation," he said. "So many factors are involved in an accident at sea."

Shawn Ralph, the captain of the ship and one of four survivors, said the report showed that one person was on duty at the time the distress call was received. The report indicated that co-ordinator was "task saturated.

"It seemed like they were using a skeleton crew and couldn't handle it," said Ralph, who was subsequently charged under the Canada Shipping Act.

"There's no accountabilitywithin government. They're trying to squeeze accountability off them and on me."

Coast guard reviewing workloads

Mary Connolly, whose brother Anthony Molloy was among those who died, said recommendations are not enough.

"I would have liked for them to have told us that the system they are putting ineffect now, that they could have put in effect prior … and our men would have been saved," she said.

The Canadian Coast Guard, meanwhile, is conducting a countrywide review of workloads. Among the changes being considered is a two-person watch.