Divers find boat; 4 fishermen feared dead

NEW BEDFORD -- Four fishermen were feared dead yesterday after divers found their 75-foot New Bedford dragger at the bottom of Nantucket Sound, Coast Guard officials said.

Divers from the Southeast Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council found the Lady of Grace lying on its side in 36 feet of water about 12 miles north of Nantucket, according to the Coast Guard.

Coast Guard boats and aircraft continued searching for the fishermen, but rescuers feared the worst after divers found the vessel's sole life raft still in its case and attached to the boat, officials said.

The Coast Guard identified the missing men as Antonio Barroqueiro, 50, of Fairhaven, the captain of the Lady of Grace; Joao Silva, the captain's brother-in-law; and crew members Mario Farinha and Rogerio Vendura. The ages and hometowns of the other men were not available yesterday.

"We're just waiting by the phone," said Maria Barroqueiro, the captain's 28-year-old daughter, reached by telephone at their home in Fairhaven. She described her father as "a hard worker" who loved to fish. He also has a 26-year-old son.

"Fishing was his life," she said, her voice cracking with emotion. "He had a couple of scares in the past, but he would still go out. He loved to provide for his family."

A Coast Guard official said it was unclear how long the men could survive in the open water, which hovered around 34 degrees. "It depends on survival gear, body weight, how physically fit they are, and sea states," Petty Officer Lauren Downs said. "We can't speculate, but we're very concerned."

Downs said the divers could not enter the boat because an oil leak limited visibility to at most 3 feet. The divers could not see whether the fishermen were trapped inside, or whether there were survival suits aboard the vessel. "The darkness, the oil, and the low water temperatures made it unsafe to enter," she said, noting divers plan to return to the boat when conditions improve.

The blue and white craft left New Bedford harbor Tuesday for an eight-day fishing trip, according to the Coast Guard. It was reported missing Saturday after the crew of another fishing boat, the Lisa Ann II, lost contact with the Lady of Grace. Its last contact was an e-mail received by the Lisa Ann at about 10 p.m. Friday.

The dragger -- a fishing vessel that tows its nets along the bottom of the sea -- was apparently returning to port in New Bedford, Downs said. She said the crew had contacted the boat's owner and said they were heading back because they were experiencing icing conditions.

The principal owner of the boat, Jaime Santos of the New Bedford-based Santos Fishing Corp., could not be reached for comment. A telephone number for him in New Bedford was out of service.

Rodney Avila, 63, the city's marine superintendent, said Santos owns three boats: the Lady of Grace, Santa Isabel, and Santa Maria. All three are fishing vessels in New Bedford harbor.

"He's a very good boat owner," Avila said. "Those boats are all in good shape."

He said fishermen remembered the crew at a service yesterday at the Seamen's Bethel in New Bedford. About 100 people filled the historic chapel.

He speculated weather was to blame for the sinking. "The common theory is that it iced up as they were coming in," Avila said. "People are thinking that, maybe, they were waiting for daylight to break the ice. "

The waves on Friday night rose 8 to 10 feet high, winds howled at 15 to 20 knots, and the temperature plummeted well below freezing, Downs and other Coast Guard officials said.

"We have no idea what happened," Petty Officer Zach Zubricki said.

The Lady of Grace previously had run into trouble on Jan. 8, when a faulty generator left the boat disabled. The Coast Guard towed the vessel to Martha's Vineyard for service and had since re-certified the vessel, Zubricki said.

"That's a relatively common problem," he said.

The Lady of Grace was the second New Bedford fishing boat to sink in just over two years. On Dec. 20, 2004, the Northern Edge capsized 45 miles off Nantucket, killing five of six crewmembers. It was considered the worst fishing accident in New England in 13 years.

The discovery of the Lady of Grace around 2:30 p.m. yesterday brought back painful memories.

"We just went through this, at about the same time of the year," said Reidar Bendiksen , 60, owner of a boat gear shop in Fairhaven.

Bendiksen, who once fished out of New Bedford, said federal fishing limits make some fishermen feel they must go to sea in bad weather.

"These regulations have only made it more and more dangerous," he said. "The number of days at sea for these draggers has gotten to be so few, it's almost as if they're not working anymore."

Bendiksen said the Lady of Grace's owner is a customer. Two years ago, he supplied a set of new doors for the boat.

"It's like a lot of the boats you find in New Bedford," he said. "They're made to work the New England waters. The bow is closed in a little more, and the pilot house is on top. I think that's to deal with higher waves."

Zane Gogola, 55, also a fisherman, said the boat would have been better off staying out to sea.

"The closer to shore you get, the more ice builds up," Gogola said.

The Coast Guard yesterday detected a signal from the boat's vessel monitoring system transponder via satellite. The signal indicated the boat's location near an oil sheen and floating debris.

Coast guard officials last night said their cutters would continue searching .

The Barroqueiro and Silva families yesterday spent the day together waiting for news. "We're all here together," Maria Barroqueiro said, "hoping for the best."

David Abel can be reached at dabel@globe.com. Kathy McCabe can be reached at kmccabe@globe.com. James Vaznis of the Globe staff contributed from New Bedford.