RCMP and a coast guard crew are looking for the body of a 48-year-old Courtenay man believed to have drowned after his commercial fishing vessel overturned Thursday night near Sayward.
The 28-foot aluminum crabbing vessel overturned around 9 p.m. near Kelsey Bay, dumping two crew members overboard, according to Sayward RCMP.
The deck hand, a 32-year-old Comox Valley man, was wearing a personal flotation device that allowed him to swim to safety. He sought help from people in a home near Brasseau Bay. They called 911 around 10 p.m.
Mounties, a Canadian Coast Guard crew and the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre began a search of the waters for the captain of the vessel. B.C. Ambulance paramedics treated the deck hand.
Despite an exhaustive search through the night and into this morning, the captain could not be found.
Police do not believe he was wearing a life-jacket and was not able to swim to shore. Crews will continue to search for captain and the sunken vessel today, said Sayward RCMP Const. Steven Thackeray.
The identity of the captain is not being released until his family is told.
Thackeray said the fact that the deck hand was wearing a life-jacket likely saved his life.
“Once you’re in the water, it’s too late to get that life-jacket on because the cold water affects your muscles and affects your mind,” he said. “So it makes a significant difference in survival.”
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