‘Nothing short of a miracle’: Missing N.L. fishing crew arrives home safely

The crew of the Elite Navigator, the fishing vessel missing since Wednesday, arrived home safely on Saturday.

The seven crew members were greeted by hundreds of people celebrating their return to Valleyfield, a municipality that is part of the town of New-Wes-Valley.

Some residents were waiting on the docks and its surrounding areas with signs and balloons. Others took to the water and greeted the crew in their own boats as they passed by on a Canadian coast guard in-shore rescue boat. 

The crew members’ safe arrival was emotional as family and friends tightly hugged the loved ones they thought they’d lost.

Captain of the Elite Navigator, Eugene Carter, said the crew is happy to be home after spending almost three days in a life-raft following a fire on the ship that escalated quickly.

“Within five minutes, we had seven men aboard a life-raft and there was fire around us everywhere,” Carter said.

Good spirits helped while stranded

In the days that followed, Carter said the crew had to keep each other warm, there was limited water supply, and the raft kept drifting farther away from land. Nonetheless, they stayed in good spirits.

“We were actually sitting around joking with each other, using the microphone, interviewing each other with the flashlight trying to keep our hopes and everything up,” he said.

But the most challenging part of the situation wasn’t being stuck on a life-raft in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean — it was thinking about what their families were going through.

“The hardest thing about it was knowing we were alive and everyone here thinking the opposite. That was the hardest thing to cope with out there,” Carter said.

Llewellyn Howell, brother of one of the crew members, said people who grew up in fishing communities were raised to expect the worst.

“The thing is, we thought there was no chance. None whatsoever,” Howell told CBC News.

Even the town’s mayor called the situation a miracle.

“It’s nothing short of a miracle,” said Michael Tiller.

Life-saving flare was the crew’s last one

The entire crew was found in a life-raft by search-and-rescue teams on Friday night.

“A hand-held red flare was spotted, which led us to a life-raft,” the coast guard said in an update posted to Facebook on Saturday.

The flare that saved their lives was the last one the men had. When it caught the attention of the helicopter, Carter said it was the best feeling in the world.

David Lee Tiller and Jordan Lee King were both on the raft. They were in good spirits as they greeted their loved ones on Saturday.

Tiller feels lucky to be alive. 

“I’d fish with all the boys again tomorrow, any day. But thanks to the big one above we are home alive,” he said.

King said he wasn’t surprised when the helicopter found them. He knew someone would find them eventually. 

“I felt amazing, I couldn’t wait to get on board and get something to eat,” King said. “It’s good to be home.”

‘Great news story’

Greg Pretty, president of the Fish, Food and Allied Workers Union, said he couldn’t sleep after finding out the good news late Friday night.

“To see this come to a successful conclusion, like I suggested yesterday, is a great news story for this province and this whole country,” Pretty told CBC News.

Premier Andrew Furey posted to social media at about 1 a.m. NT Saturday that search-and-rescue efforts had been a success.

“Our entire province is so relieved to hear the crew members of the Elite Navigator have been found and are returning to safety to their families, who have been waiting so anxiously for this good news,” Furey posted. “Thank you to all the dedicated people involved in the search and rescue effort.”

Pretty said the crew members’ successful outcome shows the importance of safety training at sea.

“I can tell you without even knowing the details that there was a training component kicked in for those crew members and with the result of seven.”

Five of the crew are from New-Wes-Valley, one is from Centreville-Wareham-Trinity and another is from the Gander Bay region.

The boat went missing off Newfoundland’s northeast coast on Wednesday, with its last known location about 300 kilometres northeast of Gander that evening.

No injuries reported

“Everybody is in good health with no obvious injuries,” Furey told a news briefing Saturday.

Tiller said the entire region had been holding its breath waiting for news, good or bad.

“Being human, you always have that fear in the back of your mind that the worst will happen. But when word started to spread last night,” he said.

“It was like a huge weighted blanket lifted after region and people were celebrating it.”

A significant fog bank about 15 nautical miles (about 28 kilometres) off the coast complicated search efforts Thursday.

Search efforts expanded Friday.

Four coast guard vessels, as well as a Cormorant helicopter and Hercules aircraft, helped in the search.

PAL Airlines also used sensors in fly-overs to try to locate the boat, and a number of fishing vessels also joined in.

Dangers of fishing highlighted

Tiller said the entire incident highlights how dangerous the profession of fishing can be.

“It hits home because in small-town Newfoundland, you know everybody. You know who they are and you know their parents, their relatives, you know the boat owners. You know basically everything about them,” he said.

“You grew up with them and, you know, it’s like losing a part of your family.… It’s nothing short of a miracle that they’re all on the way home.” 

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