State and federal agencies are still searching for details to explain what caused a commercial fishing vessel to sink off the coast of Gloucester last month, killing all seven people who were on board.
The 72-foot commercial fishing vessel, named Lily Jean, sank on Jan. 30 without sending any distress or mayday call.
Coast Guard crews spent days searching for survivors on dangerously high seas before calling off the search and rescue mission.
At a Wednesday press conference, officials stressed the need for patience as they work toward uncovering meaningful information. They said state and federal partners are collaborating on this phase of the investigation, which includes searching for the sunken ship. That effort is focused on an area about 20 minutes off shore, with waters up to 400 feet deep. Crews are hoping the search helps them understand what happened to the ship.
State Sen. Bruce Tarr suggested that “freezing spray” could have played a role.
“Ice accumulates on a vessel,” Tarr said. “And the additional weight of ice can affect the stability of the vessel.”
U.S. Coast Guard Capt. James Frederick said his crew spotted items in the debris field that would float from the deck of a fishing boat.
“It wasn’t a debris field like something catastrophic had happened to the hull,” he said. “We found a life raft that had deployed with no one in it. And then, of course, one person who was not in a survival suit.”
Last Friday and Sunday, a 208-foot NOAA research vessel, the Thomas Jefferson, deployed advanced sonar scanning in that area.
“The multibeam data collected by Thomas Jefferson are actively being analyzed and we expect to turn it over to the Coast guard, imminently,” said John Hare, director of NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center.
Accursio “Gus” Sanfilippo captained the Lily Jean, and his crew included Paul Beal Sr., Paul Beal Jr., John Rousanidis, Freeman Short and Sean Therrien, according to the Coast Guard. Jada Samitt, a fisheries observer for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, was also on board. None survived.
