Residents of New-Wes-Valley anxious for missing fishermen to be found safe, says mayor

A community on Newfoundland's east coast is waiting for any news about a missing fishing vessel that is the focus of an intense search, says a mayor.

The vessel, the 15-metre Elite Navigator, has not been heard from since Wednesday evening. The boat's last known location was about 300 kilometres northeast of Gander.

New-Wes-Valley mayor Mike Tiller said the people of his community are worried and anxious for any updates, and hoping the vessel will be found.

"Right now, it's just hoping. The biggest thing now is to hope that everything is OK and they just had some mechanical issues and communication issues and that they're going to be found OK," Tiller told CBC News.

The missing vessel has a crew of seven. Five are from New-Wes-Valley, he said, one is from Centreville-Wareham-Trinity and another from the Gander Bay region.

"They were out for a trip of turbot. I think they were due back in Valleyfield yesterday afternoon. And I guess when they didn't show up of course that's what set off the initial alarms," said Tiller.

He said the close-knit community is hoping for a positive outcome.

"It's a small town, 2,220 people, so you do know 90 per cent of the population for sure," said Tiller.

"It's anxiousness not knowing. Not knowing is the worst part."

In shock

Fish, Food & Allied Workers president Greg Pretty said the union hopes the seven crew members will be safe at home with their families soon.The province's fish harvesters, wherever they're from, is tightly connected, he said.

"It's just complete devastation throughout the fishing community," Pretty told CBC News on Friday.

"There's emotional shock throughout the fishing community. Throughout the province. Throughout every single community in the province. There's trauma. People are extremely upset. People are hoping for the best."

Pretty declined to say whether he knows the crew members personally but said he has strong connections to the Valleyfield region.

"I know these people and I know how integrated they are. I know how tragic this situation is," he said.

Search expands

The Canadian Coast Guard is continuing its search for a missing fishing vessel off the coast of Newfoundland and is drawing on all available resources, said Len Hickey, senior public affairs officer of Halifax's Joint Rescue Coordination Centre.

Hickey previously told CBC News that officials received a call around 3:30 p.m. NT Thursday that the boat hadn't reached its destination.

Hickey said that more assets have been added to the search for the missing vessel.

"Unfortunately we are unable to locate the vessel at this time," Hickey told CBC News on Friday morning.

The boat's last transponder notice was made at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Hickey said.

Four coast guard vessels are part of the search effort, he said, as well as a Cormorant helicopter and Hercules aircraft. PAL Airlines is also in the air using sensors to try to locate it, he said, and a number of fishing vessels are also involved.

He said Friday's search is different from the previous day because of the additional number of assets being used.

"They also include drift charts," he said. Drift charts are the calculations JRCC and search and rescue technicians use to predict where a vessel may have moved after losing propulsion.

Hickey said his office is doing everything it can to find the vessel in this critical period.

"It's always important, of course, to try and find a vessel as soon as possible."

Fog conditions complicate search

Hickey said conditions in the area are making the search challenging.

"There's a pretty significant fog bank that was about 15 nautical miles [about 28 kilometres] off the coast of Gander yesterday. That did play a part in the search, made it a little bit more difficult."

Hickey said the fog bank is expected to lift during the day, which would help search efforts.

Premier Andrew Furey also shared his concerns on X, formerly known as Twitter.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of the missing fish harvesters off our province's coast," he tweeted Thursday morning.

"We will be there to support the community during this challenging time as we hope for a positive outcome."

Furey also thanked those involved in the search effort.

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