Lost at Sea: Coast Guard Calls Off Search for Missing Scallopers
Vessel Found Under 160 Feet of Water Off Long Point Believed to be Sudden Impact
By Paul Sylvain
After a more than 25-hour search involving 11 rescue vessels over two days, and encompassing 950 square miles of open sea and coastline in eastern Washington County, the U.S. Coast Guard officially called off its search Sunday evening for a South Addison scallop dragger and its two-man crew reported missing since Jan. 18.
The Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) first reported the missing vessel, Sudden Impact, and its crew — Chester “ Chet” Barrett and his son Aaron Barrett — in a bulletin issued at 8:42 a.m. on Jan. 19. According to the bulletin, the 34-foot vessel, rigged for scallop dragging, was reported missing by a family member around 5 p.m. on Jan. 18, “when they failed to return as expected after transitioning from Edmunds to South Addison.”
The DMR bulletin stated that at around 7 p.m. Saturday, the U.S. Coast Guard, along with local fishermen, joined the DMR in a search of the waters and roughly 60-mile shoreline between Lubec and South Addison. However, the evening’s search was paused until Sunday morning because of poor visibility, DMR said.
Additional reports on Sunday stated that Sudden Impact had departed Cobscook Bay State Park at around 5 a.m. on Jan. 18, en route to South Addison, but encountered high winds and rough seas. The vessel then changed course to seek refuge in Cutler, the bulletin said.
DMR and Coast Guard reports further stated that radio and cell phone contact with the scallop dragger was lost and the boat and its crew never arrived in Cutler, and that by 5 p.m. on Jan. 18, had not returned to its mooring in South Addison.
On Sunday morning, the U.S. Coast Guard deployed rescue ships from its stations in Jonesport and Eastport, as well as a twin-engine turboprop EADS HC-144 Ocean Sentry search aircraft from Cape Cod in Massachusetts. The Canadian Coast Guard also dispatched a helicopter to aid in the search.
The search and recovery effort took on a heightened sense of urgency Sunday as the area braced for the arrival later that evening of a winter storm bringing with it up to nine inches of snow with winds gusting to 35 mph. According to seatemperature.org, the average ocean water temperature in Machiasport this time of year is around 39 degrees.
In calling off the search, the Coast Guard’s Northern New England Sector Commander, Capt. Matt Baker, said, “We offer our sincere condolences to the family. We conduct every search and rescue mission with the hope of returning missing people to safety, which is why suspending any search and rescue effort is one of the hardest decisions I make.” Baker went on to praise everyone who participated in the search.
“It’s pretty sad about them guys,” Machiasport Harbor Master David Cale said on Sunday evening. Cale said he received a call on Jan.18, asking if the missing vessel might have made it safely to Bucks Harbor to escape the wind and rough seas. A similar check was made earlier in Cutler, said Cale, but Sudden Impact was not found in either location.
Cale said the harbor’s scallop draggers “normally leave in a pack,” when they set out to fish this time of year. He noted that on Friday, a dozen draggers “left at the same time.” However reports indicate that Sudden Impact, which appears to have moored in Cobscook Bay on Friday, waited until Saturday to leave from Edmunds to return to South Addison. “I’m not sure how familiar they were with that coastline [between Edmunds and Cutler],” said Cale, “but it doesn’t take much wind to make it rough, and it blew hard that day.”
Cale, who stated he had been in contact with the Coast Guard, said he was familiar with the missing boat and described it as a 34-foot Webbers Cove lobster boat with low sides.
“A boat that small with drag rigging would have been top-heavy,” said Cale. “Some fishermen from Jonesport and Addison tried to go out to help search for those boys, but had to turn around because it was just too wild to be out there, and they were in a 50-foot boat.”
Amid a swirl of rumors Sunday afternoon, Cale reported that a boat was indeed located on the ocean bottom at a depth of about 160 feet in the vicinity of Long Point Cove and Moose River near Cutler. “I was told they lifted the boat about 60 feet off bottom, but was ordered to sit it back down on bottom for some reason,” Cale said Sunday evening. “They probably didn't have the right equipment to lift it up and tow it in.”
Cale’s information was confirmed by family members that posted online that the Coast Guard suspended their rescue efforts “because the chance of survival had gone past the window of opportunity.”
In a social media post shared by Howard Calder, Stephanie Chambers wrote, “As many of you know, ‘something’ was found at the bottom of the ocean by a fisherman’s sonar, in the path that F/V Sudden Impact was traveling. At this time the Maine Marine Patrol is leading the recovery of Chet and Aaron. To my knowledge they have every intent to first verify that it is indeed F/V Sudden Impact [and], if so, then search and possibly recover Chet and Aaron from the sunken vessel.”
Chambers went on to say that Chet Barrett’s wife has given their nephew permission to organize and lead efforts on Monday to raise the sunken vessel found Sunday to the surface.
Speaking to Cale’s statement about a failed attempt to raise the vessel Sunday, Chambers said, “The USCG did not advise this attempt, but did stand by on the scene for the lifting of this vessel, due to their safety concerns. A very short time after several local fishermen and large boats organized this attempt, [and] had attempted once to hook on to the sunken vessel, the USCG demanded all efforts be aborted.”
Chambers stressed, “By no means is this the end. At the next availability, with weather conditions and safety measures in place, Maine Marine Patrol and local fishermen will be focused on this site in hopes to bring Chet and Aaron home to their family.”
The publisher and staff at Machias Valley News Observer extends our deepest sympathy to the family and friends of Chet and Aaron Barrett for their tragic loss.
The Maine Marine Patrol announced on Jan. 21 that it was resuming efforts to locate the bodies of the two missing fishermen. Additionally, Marine Patrol confirmed that a vessel had been located by sonar near Moose Cove at the mouth of the Moose River, and will be on scene to assist efforts to raise the boat from under 160 feet of water.
The U.S. Coast Guard posted this photo of the 34-foot F/V Sudden Impact, following its disappearance, along with its crew, Chet Barrett and his son Aaron Barrett, on Jan. 18. (Photo courtesy U.S. Coast Guard)