Coast Guard searches for fishing boat captain

November 13, 2008 05:30 PM Email| Comments (9)| Text size – +

(Mesquita family photo)

The Coast Guard is searching for Antonio Mesquita.

By John R. Ellement, Globe Staff

NEW BEDFORD -- The family and friends of a fishing boat captain gathered today to comfort and support each other as the Coast Guard searched for him in the ocean off Cape Cod, where his boat suddenly capsized overnight.

The captain, Antonio Mesquita, 56, was a Portuguese native who had been working in New Bedford as a commercial fisherman for more than 20 years, his daughter, Sandra Silveirinha said.

She said she recognized the odds of him surviving were shrinking every minute, but she still hoped that he was alive.

“My heart wants to tell me yes. I would hope that he is. But I don’t know,” she said outside the family home in the southern section of the city.

The 71-foot Costa & Corvo capsized 115 miles off Cape Cod. Three other crew members on board were plucked from the ocean by fishermen in their sister craft, the Mary K, the Coast Guard said.

"The crew says that everything happened so quickly they weren't even able to put on their life vests,'' said Petty Officer Connie Terrell, a Coast Guard spokeswoman.

The captain was last seen inside the pilot house of the vessel. "Hopefully, he was able to get out," Terrell said.

Rescue aircraft searched through the night. A helicopter and the Coast Guard cutter Seneca continued to search this afternoon, Terrell said.

Terrell said the Seneca could search through the night. “We’ll continue searching as long as we can and as long as we feel we may find him safe and alive,” Terrell said.

The three fishermen plucked from the water were transferred to the cutter Grand Isle, which was headed back toward the mainland, Terrell said. They appeared to be in good health after an initial evaluation by a Coast Guard diver.

Investigators are trying to determine what caused the boat to capsize. The rescued crew doesn't "even know what happened,'' Terrell said.

Silveirinha, 33, of New Bedford said that her father was very safety-conscious. She said the family believed, after hearing from the Coast Guard and other fishermen, that his last act was to run into the wheelhouse when the boat started to tip to sound the emergency alarm and call for help on the radio.

The Costa & Corvo was built in 1977 and is owned by R & P Fishing Corp. of New Bedford, according to Coast Guard records. The vessel is partially submerged and has not completely sunk, Terrell said.

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9 comments so far...

So being partially submerged, have the CG divers investigated the vessel's inards? Is the boat bobbing up and down and preventing further investigation due to safety? I am really interested in knowing what happened. This open ended mystery must be unbearable for the family.

Posted by Alec November 13, 08 04:07 PM

i used to be a deckhand on this boat. what a terrible mess....if the boats still bobbing, the skip would have the brains to go down(up) to the engine room...there would be air for a while. don't know...i'm sorry...toni will be in all of our prayers and songs. best of luck and wishes to family, friends and crew

Posted by Nick November 13, 08 05:47 PM

My heart goes out to the family. I know what you are going through. I lost my husband, Phil, last July 23,2008, on the F/V Sea Breeze, off Cape May. My thoughts and prayers are with you all.

Posted by Donna Ruhle November 13, 08 05:59 PM

i`m sure god is watching over him, do not give up hope! i will say a prayer for his safe return!

Posted by stevie k November 13, 08 09:26 PM

My prayer are with you and your family

Capt Gene

Posted by Capt Gene New Jersey November 13, 08 10:56 PM

As a fellow seaman i am very sorry to hear this. My thought and prayers go out to the family and friends. Don't give up hope. I pray for his safe return.

Posted by William Chancey November 14, 08 02:17 AM

Any shipmate who is lost at sea is a terrible tragedy. As we find out what happened, hopefully we can learn some lessons to avoid having this happen to other shipmates. Captain Mesquita, lost at sea, is surely in God's perfect and merciful "wheelhouse". My prayers are for him and his loving family. -Captain Peter Squicciarini, Norfolk, VA.

Posted by Captain Peter Squicciarini, Norfolk Tug, VA. November 14, 08 04:09 PM

My prayers are with the captain, his family and loved ones. My 21 y.o. son is on a commercial fishing boat out of Montauk now and I know I'm in a common community family that fears this dreadful news.

Posted by Bridget November 14, 08 06:08 PM

thank you to everyone who has posted a comment. My family and I appreciate all the love and support we have received over the past few days. My Dad was the best father a son could ask for. Appearantly a dive team and the equipment needed to dive and search the boat is all in place. The only thing holding them back is permission from the U.S.C.G. to use one of their cutters that would have enogh deckspace to be able to perform the search safely. I Pray that everything works out because we want nothig more than to see our dad one more time and lay him to rest DAD I LOVE YOU SO MUCH its hurts so bad to think that we may never see you agaiin. hopefully everything will be resolved quickly, and you will be returned to us you are always in our hearts and willl never be forgottent.
love 4ever
Joao, Monica, and your baby girl Payton

Posted by john silveirinha November 19, 08 08:30 PM