Supply ships, Coast Guard help rescue seven people, two dogs from sinking ship

A team of oil rig supply vessels and Canadian Coast Guard ships and aircraft helped rescue seven people and two dogs from a sinking ship off the coast of Newfoundland early Monday morning. 

"This was a good day. This is as best as you can hope for in a situation that's grave like this," said Mark Gould, a regional supervisor with the Coast Guard's Marine Search and Rescue.

The mayday call came around 1:00 a.m. from the Gypsy Mariner, a fishing boat from Quebec, as it was taking on water about 60 nautical miles off St. John's. 

The Maritime Rescue Sub Centre directed all nearby vessels to the scene.

The two supply ships — the Atlantic Griffon and the Atlantic Shrike — and a Canadian Forces Hercules aircraft were the first to arrive at the scene. A Coast Guard cormorant helicopter arrived about 30 minutes later. 

"We did drop a pump to the vessel just in case there was a way to save it, but it quickly became clear that that wasn't going to be an option," said Gould.

Winds were blowing about 30 knots, and rescue crews were dealing with three-metre seas.

Tom Swift, a manager with Atlantic Towing, the company that owns the two supply vessels, said they brought five people from one life raft and two people and two dogs from a second raft on board the Atlantic Griffon around 5:30 a.m.

Gould commended their effort.

"Exceptional crews, very well trained, responded quickly and did a fantastic job for us on scene," said Gould, who also lauded the crew of the sinking Gypsy Mariner.

"They were prepared, they had the proper gear on board. When they called they had already donned their immersion suits and were prepared to abandon if necessary. They had a life raft ready to go, they had an EPIRB that was properly registered to help indicate their position."

Gould said as of Monday afternoon the Gypsy Mariner was still afloat but was riding very low in the water. 

The Coast Guard has issued a navigational warning for the area. The rescue ship Sacred Bay is at the scene, and Coast Guard surveillance flights are monitoring for pollution. 

Swift said it was a good rescue.