RCMP locates missing scallop dragger off Delaps Cove, N.S.

Nova Scotia RCMP say they have located the Chief William Saulis, a scallop dragger that went missing in December along with six crew members aboard.

RCMP said its underwater recovery teams, with help from the Canadian Coast Guard and Transportation Safety Board, completed a sonar search in a targeted area off of Delaps Cove, N.S. The scan located an anomaly.

“Using a remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV), the mass was confirmed to be the Chief Williams Saulis,” RCMP said in a Sunday release.

The boat was located two kilometres from the shore, around the area where the boat’s emergency beacon went off on the morning of Dec. 15.

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The body of one of its crew, Michael Drake, was recovered later that day. The other five men – Aaron Cogswell, Leonard Gabriel, Daniel Forbes, Eugene Francis and the boat’s captain, Charles Roberts – are still lost. A search continues for them.

The Mounties said in a press release on Friday that an aerial search has concluded but may resume if new information is received.

3:03 RCMP lead recovery effort for scallop fishers presumed dead in Nova Scotia

The families of the missing fishermen have been informed of the new finding, they said in Sunday’s release.

The next step will be to search the inside of the vessel that’s currently sitting under 60 metres of water. RCMP said the depth exceeds the capacity of its underwater recovery team so a procedure has yet to be determined.