Thursday, 4:30 PM
Another fishing boat lost, two feared dead
By David Abel and Kay Lazar, Globe Staff
Two young fishermen were feared dead Thursday after their 52-foot vessel sent a distress signal and disappeared before dawn off the coast of Maine, Coast Guard officials said.
An emergency beacon on the Newburyport-based Lady Luck, the second fishing boat to vanish in the past week, sent an electronic signal shortly after 2 a.m. from about 12 miles off Cape Elizabeth, officials said.
A Coast Guard helicopter later spotted debris and an oil sheen, Coast Guard Petty Officer Etta Smith said. Coast Guard ships, helicopters, and fishing vessels in the area searched more than 1,800 square miles Thursday, she said.
Smith identified the missing fishermen as Sean Cone, 24, the captain, from North Andover, and Dan Miller, 21, a crewman from North Hampton, N.H.
Pat Cone, Sean’s father, Thursday said the Lady Luck left Portland at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday in search of cod, haddock, and flounder. They expected to return to Gloucester on Friday.
"I talked to him at 8 p.m., and he said everything was fine," his father said. "He said it was a little sloppy out, but he didn’t appear concerned at all."
Cone described his son as "absolutely safety conscious."
He planned to get married in June.
Glenn Miller, Dan’s father, said his son had just had a baby boy in September. He said his son was relatively new to fishing and had been working on the Lady Luck for about a year and a half.
"He loved the ocean," said Miller, who has two other sons. "He just really enjoyed fishing."
He said he last spoke to his son about 9:30 p.m. Wednesday. "He said it was a little rough, but not too bad," Miller said. "Everything was fine."
His family spent Thursday anxiously waiting news from the Coast Guard. "We’re very stressed ...," Miller said. "I’m a retired officer of the Coast Guard, and now I’m sitting on the other side. It’s hard, very hard to go through this."
A New Bedford fishing vessel with a four-man crew sank last weekend. The Lady of Grace, a 75-foot dragger, went down about 12 miles north of Nantucket. Only one crewmember’s body has been recovered.
