News

2 fishermen rescued as boat sinks

By Richard Gaines
Staff writer
Published: March 25, 2008

Two local fishermen were rescued this morning after a 43-foot dragger, headed home from an overnight trip fishing for cod and yellowtail south of Gloucester, foundered and sank three miles south of the Dog Bar breakwater.

The boak sank minutes after the two-man crew was safely taken off by the U.S. Coast Guard. Capt. Matteo Ferrara, 52, and mate Joseph Lucido, 54, were unharmed. There was no immediate theory about the cause of the sinking.

The 36-year-old, steel-hulled Miss Sonya was owned by gear supplier Corrado Buccheri, who said Ferrara had been planning to stay out for a third day but then weather conditions worsened — with 3- to 5-foot swells below 20- to 30-mph mile winds in the vicinity of Stellwagen Bank, Buccheri said.

Ferrara radioed the Coast Guard that the Miss Sonya was "taking water" at 7:28 a.m. Twenty-two minutes later, at 7:50, Ferrara and Lucido were taken onto the Coast Guard's 47-foot motor life boat.

A minute later, Miss Sonya rolled onto its starboard (right) side, then capsized four minutes later. Sixteen minutes afer that, the boat sank. Diesel fuel spilled, causing a slick about two miles from the harbor mouth.

The Coast Guard said this afternoon it was monitoring the spill. The time sequence was provided by the Coast Guard from its log.

Ferrara and Lucido are veteran fishermen who were working as freelancers, Buccheri said.

For full coverage of this story, a photo of the boat and a map indicating the site of the accident, look to Wednesday morning's edition of the Gloucester Daily Times.

Richard Gaines can be raeched at rgaines@gloucestertimes.com.