‘Craziest rescue’ involves 27 helicopter lifts

Rescuers saved all 31 crew members from the Atlantic Destiny trawler, before she sank off Nova Scotia’s coast.

The ship was in distress and taking on water after a fire which knocked out the vessel’s power.

The 43m scallop vessel was about 220km off the coast and high winds and six to eight metre seas complicated the rescue, according to CBC.

The captain and three crew members remained on board initially, while the other 27 were lifted off the ship one-by-one. The individual lifts meant rescue crews performed this manoeuvre with the helicopter 27 times.

“This was one of the craziest rescues that I’ve been a part of, for the situation and how many hoisted we had to do and how challenging it was trying to calm the aircraft to go get the survivors picked up,” Phillip Morales, avionics electrician first class, with the United States Coast Guard told CBC. “It was really, really challenging.”

It took several trips by two helicopters to get the crew off the ship.

Watch footage from Halifax Joint Rescue Coordination Centre:

The Canadian and United States coast guards, as well as several offshore fishing vessels, including the Cape LaHave, Maude Adams, Atlantic Preserver and Atlantic Protector, came to the aid of the crew, according to Ocean Choice, which owns the vessel.

“That was a huge relief for all of us. We’ve been in contact through the night and really concerned with the crew on board and making sure they got home safe,” says Martin Sullivan, Ocean Choice’s CEO.

The captain and three crew members remained onboard, along with two search and rescue technicians. They managed to restore power and began pumping water out of the Atlantic Destiny. But those efforts were ultimately ineffective.

At around 08.00 Wednesday, everyone left the Atlantic Destiny for the Canadian Coast Guard vessel Cape Roger.

Atlantic Destiny sunk shortly after.