IQALUIT, Nunavut — Nine crew members from a Newfoundland fishing boat have been rescued from Arctic waters off Baffin Island.
The Halifax-based Joint Task Force Atlantic issued a Tweet on Monday night saying the mission was a success and the fishers had been taken aboard FV Pamiut.
The task force gave credit to the co-operation between Canadian Forces, the coast guard and civilian vessels.
Navy Lt. Christine Hurov said the fishers abandoned their boat in Frobisher Bay, about 400 kilometres from Iqaluit, when it began taking on water.
Hurov said all crew members were able to don survival suits and make it into the vessel's life-boat.
Naval and coast guard vessels were in the vicinity of their life-raft, as were private boats in the area.
A Canadian Forces Hercules airplane dropped a radio to the crew and communication was established.
The stricken vessel was recently profiled by CBC-TV.
The 21-metre, $2.5-million Atlantic Charger, owned by Bradley Watkins of Cottlesville, N.L., is considered a state-of-the-art fishing vessel.
The vessel, launched in July 2013, is equipped for crab, shrimp and turbot fishing.
The 43-year-old Watkins told the CBC that he's willing to take risks.
“I fish hard," he told the program "Land and Sea." "I don’t haul in my horns for every little breath of wind.
“I haven’t got no fear of the water. That might get me, one of these days.”
