Tag Archives: F/V Chief William Saulis
EDITORIAL: Safety plans for fishing vessels crucial to prevent further deaths in dangerous industry
There have been many tragedies on the water in recent years. During last year’s lobster fishery, Christian Atwood, 27, died when he was lost overboard on Boxing Day from the fishing vessel MV Little Weasel II near Cape Sable Island, N.S. The previous March, Jeremy Hart, 35, died after falling into the water as members of his crew were being transferred from a life raft they had launched from their sinking vessel, Mucktown Girl, off of Canso. But it was the sinking of the scallop vessel Chief William Saulis in December 2020, and the deaths of all six crew aboard, that prompted the changes to the 2023-24 season. Capt. Charles Roberts, Aaron Cogswell, Daniel Forbes, Michael Drake, Geno Francis and Leonard Gabriel were all tragically lost in that event. >>click to read<< 12:29
In aftermath of sinking, crew member’s widow says Transport Canada reform falls short
Transport Canada will tighten inspections of fishing vessels in the aftermath of a deadly Nova Scotia sinking in 2020, but the widow of a lost crew member says the reform doesn’t go far enough to prevent future tragedies. Six crew members died on Dec. 15, 2022, when the Chief William Saulis capsized as heavy seas crashed into the rocking boat and 2,700 kilograms of unsecured scallops slid around a deck, blocking drainage. But Michelle Nickerson-Forbes, the widow of Dan Forbes, said in an interview Friday that the federal department is failing to move on what she and other families consider a root cause of repeated fishing tragedies: unstable vessels going out to sea. >click to read< 07:58
Ottawa accepts call for tighter fishing boat inspections in aftermath of N.S. sinking
Transport Canada says it will tighten inspections of fishing vessels in the aftermath of a 2020 sinking that resulted in six deaths off Nova Scotia’s southwestern coast. A March 22 report by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada concluded that the dragger Chief William Saulis capsized because 2,700 kilograms of unshelled scallops blocked the drainage system as high seas crashed into the boat. It recommended that Transport Canada inspectors verify whether required, written safety procedures are available to crew, such as methods to store catch in a way that doesn’t block drainage. Video, >click to read< 12:53
Amid fishing deaths, calls rise for small boats to have stability checks
After the Caledonian capsized off Vancouver Island in 2015 with three lives lost, the Transportation Safety Board called for all small fishing vessels to undergo a stability assessment and adhere to standards ensuring stability information “is adequate and readily available to the crew.” However, seven years later, Transport Canada says on its website that enacting the regulation would be “functionally challenging and prohibitively expensive for the industry.” The department declined a request for an interview with a senior official to provide further explanation. It’s a stance the Transportation Safety Board describes on its website as “unsatisfactory,” while a lawyer for the mother of a deckhand who died when the scallop dragger Chief William Saulis flipped over off Nova Scotia on Dec. 15, 2020 argues the federal government needs to act. >click to read< 11:50 – Search Results for “Caledonian” – fisherynation.com – Search Results for “Chief William Saulis” – fisherynation.com
Transport Canada must be ‘more vigilant,’ relatives say two years after N.S. sinking
“My father said, ‘After this trip, this was it,’ because it was quite dangerous,” Michael Francis said during a recent interview at his home in Milton, N.S., a few weeks before the second anniversary of the sinking of the Chief William Saulis. The bodies of Eugene (Geno)Michael Francis, Aaron Cogswell, Leonard Gabriel, Dan Forbes and captain Charles Roberts were never recovered after the 17-metre vessel capsized on Dec. 15, 2020, just off Delaps 
Cove, about 50 kilometres north of Digby, N.S. The body of crew member Michael Drake was swept up on the rocky shoreline. Two years later, Francis and Lori Phillips, the mother of Cogswell, say Dec. 15 is a date that provokes painful memories, unanswered questions and frustration over a Transportation Safety Board investigation that still hasn’t officially delivered its findings. >click to read< 08:43 >Search Results for Chief William Saulis<
‘The spot is beautiful’: Chief William Saulis crew remembered with memorial
Lori Phillips was at a loss. She didn’t want to go to just any random cemetery and place a headstone with her son Aaron’s name on it. She would have no relationship to that spot, she says. It would just be a stone on a piece of land. Her son, Aaron Cogswell, was one of six fishermen who lost their lives in the Dec. 15, 2020, sinking of the Chief William Saulis scallop dragger. The others were Charles Roberts, Daniel Forbes, Michael Drake, Eugene Francis, and Leonard Gabriel. Phillips needed a place for her and others to remember the crew. >click to read< 09:01
Questions linger for mother as monument erected for lost fishermen in Nova Scotia
Questions about how a scallop dragger sank suddenly in 2020 are lingering for a crew member’s mother, who this week installed a stone monument close to where the boat was lost. The bodies of Aaron Cogswell, Leonard Gabriel, Dan Forbes, Geno Francis and captain Charles Roberts were never found after the sinking of the Chief William Saulis on Dec. 15, 2020. The body of crew member Michael Drake came ashore near Delaps Cove, a coastal village about 50 kilometres north of Digby, N.S. Lori Phillips, Cogswell’s mother, has worked alongside Darlene Roberts, the wife of the captain, to create a stone memorial to honour the men on a wilderness trail within sight of the coastal waters where the dragger went down. >please click to read< 16:22
Plans underway by mother, Yarmouth for memorials to six Nova Scotia fishermen lost at sea
Plans are underway by a mother and the town of Yarmouth, N.S., for memorials to six fishermen who died when their scallop dragger sank off the province’s southwestern coast 14 months ago. Lori Phillips, Aaron Cogswell’s mother, has ordered a stone monument to be installed in the Delaps Cove area as a place to remember her son, and it also has the names and images of the other fishermen on it. She used funeral funds provided by the Workers’ Compensation Board of Nova Scotia, and some of her own money, to pay the $6,000 cost of the stone monument, which was delivered at a reduced price. On the stone is a photo of the dragger and photos of all the crew, and it is written, “these six men held important roles in the lives near and dear to them.” >click to read< 10:26
Hearts broken and fears realized when the Saulis crew didn’t come home – A Year Later
Dec. 15 marks the one-year anniversary of the sinking of F/V Chief William Saulis scallop vessel, a tragedy that took the lives of six men and forever changed the lives of so many more. We still think about the crew. We still think about their families. We still think about the fishing communities that are deeply touched and heartbroken when those who make their living on the water do not come back home. Those aboard were Capt. Charles Roberts, Aaron Cogswell, Daniel Forbes, Michael Drake, Geno Francis and Leonard Gabriel. It was reported there had been no distress call made. photos, >click to read< 17:59 By Tina Comeau
A family’s heartache and the frustrating push to talk more about workplace deaths in Nova Scotia
Ryan Durling was 21 when he was crushed in a garbage truck while working in Port Williams, N.S. Durling’s death was one of 44 acute workplace fatalities in Nova Scotia in five years. Among those who died while working were RCMP Const. Heidi Stevenson and Kristen Beaton, a Victorian Order of Nurses community health worker. But there are other fatalities that the media never covered,,, The largest workplace event in 2020 in Atlantic Canada was the loss of the six men who were on board the scallop vessel the Chief William Saulis.,,, Durling’s parents hope that their son’s death will 
prompt some change, and his mother hopes other families who suffer a workplace loss are supported as they press for answers. “The more we talk about things and be aware of things and issues and things that arise and that, you know, will bring in awareness and maybe preventative measures,” Pam Durling said. >click to read< 10:39
Family of fisherman lost in F/V Chief William Saulis tragedy denied death benefit, seek legislative change
Lori Phillips closes her eyes in a failed attempt to suppress tears. Her 29-year-old son was one of six crew members aboard the Chief William Saulis scallop dragger that sank off of the coast of Annapolis County’s Delaps Cove on Dec. 15, 2020.,, The Workers’ Compensation Board of Nova Scotia recently informed Phillips that there will be no lump sum payout to Cogswell’s family following his accidental death on the job. Phillips plans to appeal the decision. “His life mattered,” she said. She’s also set her sights on pushing for a change to the legislation in question. >click to read< 16:27
Absolute Inequity – Family of lost fisherman denied Workers’ Compensation survivor’s benefit
The mother of a fisherman who died when his scallop boat sank says she was shocked to learn his family won’t receive an accidental death benefit because he was single and had no children. Aaron Cogswell, 29, was one of six men who died when the Chief William Saulis sank off the coast of Delaps Cove, N.S., in December. His mother, Lori Phillips, said she recently learned that the Workers’ Compensation Board of Nova Scotia will not pay the $15,000 lump sum survivor’s benefit to the family. “A survivor is a survivor, if it’s a wife or,,, Phillips said she asked the board to put the denial in writing, so she knew exactly why >click to read< 10:48
F/V Chief William Saulis: Royal Canadian Mounted Police end search for missing crew on sunken scallop dragger
More than a month after the crew of a scallop dragger from Nova Scotia disappeared on the Bay of Fundy, the RCMP are calling off their search for the five men suspected of going down with the vessel, citing “significant” risk to the lives of divers. The RCMP said at the time that their crews were not equipped to dive to the necessary depths to look inside, but they said they were studying their options. On Saturday, they announced in a news release that those options had been exhausted. >click to read< The RCMP is calling off its search for the Chief Willian Saulis – >click to read< 11:43
F/V Chief William Saulis: Families say everything possible should be done to recover bodies from sunken boat
Laura Smith, the sister and next of kin of Gabriel, says it would give her family closure to have her brother’s body back home, and she favours raising the boat for further investigation if it can be done without endangering lives. “We all would like to see the boat raised and the bodies returned for closure and to have a proper burial,”,,, “As long as I know they have done everything in their power, until they can’t do more, I’ll be happy with that.” Lori Phillips, Cogswell’s mother, said she continues to expect a federal agency, whether it’s the RCMP or the Transportation Safety Board, to inspect the sunken boat with the ROV, and she believes it should be raised. “We need the final ritual. . . . I’d like to have him home,” she said. >click to read< 11:18
F/V Chief William Saulis: Delaps Cove fisherman calls for raising the scallop dragger
“There’s a huge desire here amongst the communities on the bay shore to see the vessel raised, and for a number of reasons,” said Colin Sproul. Sproul, a fifth-generation fisherman, was working out of his family’s boat-building business at the Delaps Cove wharf on Jan. 17 as word started to spread that the missing vessel was located nearby. For just over a month, searchers scouring land, air and the sea scanned the quiet Bay of Fundy fishing communities in and around Annapolis County’s Delaps Cove.,, >click to read< 08:20
F/V Chief William Saulis: Commercial fishing vessel located upright after month-long search
One month and one day since it was lost at sea, the Chief William Saulis scallop dragger has been found. The RCMP says the fishing vessel was located underwater more than two kilometres from the shore of Delaps Cove, Annapolis County. The vessel, the RCMP said, was upright. Because of the depth of where the vessel is – which is greater than 60 metres and exceeds the maximum depth for the RCMP Underwater Recovery Teams (URT) – the RCMP says the next steps to search the inside of the vessel are to be determined. >click to read<, to be updated. 09:50
F/V Chief William Saulis – New ROV brought in as search for missing fishermen continues
RCMP searchers are deploying a new remote operated underwater vehicle in their ongoing search for the missing crew of the scallop dragger Chief William Saulis. According to a police news release, the Nova Scotia RCMP got the ROV, which is equipped with a “Tritech Gemini multi-beam sonar,” from RCMP in British Columbia. “This equipment is newer technology then what has previously been used and will assist members in the search for the sunken vessel,”>click to read< 07:40
Sonar tech company says RCMP declined offer to help find F/V Chief William Saulis
Kraken Robotics offered to deploy its ultra-high-resolution sonar system in effort to find the Chief William Saulis, which went down last month in stormy seas near Digby, N.S., with six men on board. “We just wanted to help. And that’s what’s confounding us,” said Karl Kenny, CEO and president of Kraken Robotics.,, Sgt. Andrew Joyce, a spokesperson for the RCMP, said the force frequently gets offers to assist in high-profile cases. He said the force may still take Kraken up on its offer, but for now it has the resources it needs, including sonar. >click to read< 12:57
ROV introduced into search for F/V Chief William Saulis and missing fishermen
On Friday the RCMP, in partnership with the Canadian Coast Guard who provided a platform, and Canada Border Services Agency providing a Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV), were on the water continuing the search. The search did not locate the missing vessel, a Jan. 2 media release update reads. Due to unfavourable and deteriorating conditions, there is no search activity happening on Jan. 2 “Expectations are to return to the water Jan. 3 to resume the search, weather and water conditions permitting,” the RCMP says. >click to read< 07:07
Coast guard vessel with platform to help with search for missing scallop dragger
The Canadian Coast Guard has deployed a vessel with a platform to help search the Bay of Fundy for a scallop dragger that went missing two weeks ago. The coast guard vessel left Dartmouth on Wednesday and should arrive in Digby, N.S., by Friday, according to a release from the Nova Scotia RCMP. From there, the RCMP’s underwater recovery team will be able to perform sonar exploration in the area in search of the Chief William Saulis. The fishing vessel with six men on board sent out an emergency beacon near Delaps Cove, N.S., in the early morning of Dec. 15. >click to read< 19:09
RCMP locate debris ‘consistent’ with section of missing F/V Chief William Saulis
Nova Scotia RCMP have located debris that appears to be “consistent” with a small section of the scallop fishing vessel that has been lost in the Bay of Fundy for two weeks. In a news release, RCMP said that their air services team searched roughly 100 kilometres of coastline from Digby Gut to Harbourville by helicopter on Monday. During that search, they located debris that is “consistent with a small section of the upper portion of the Chief William Saulis.” >click to read< 14:14
RCMP resumes aerial search, C.G. planning sonar exploration for missing F/V Chief William Saulis fishermen
The search will take place about 100 kilometres off the coast from Digby Gut to Harbourville by helicopter, according to a news release. The scallop vessel sank in the early hours of Dec. 15 off the coast of Delaps Cove. The Nova Scotia RCMP and the RCMP Underwater Recovery Team are currently in the planning stages of a partnership with the Canadian Coast Guard to provide a platform which will assist in recovery efforts, including sonar exploration. >click to read< 15:44
Chief William Saulis: RCMP to use sonar in effort to locate missing Nova Scotia scallop dragger
In a news release Tuesday morning, RCMP say the aerial search would resume, weather permitting, after it was paused on Monday, and an underwater recovery team would join the efforts and explore the water with sonar equipment. RCMP spokesperson Sgt. Andrew Joyce said the sonar search was dependent on conditions and it was not clear, as of late morning, whether the underwater crew would be able to start Tuesday. The goal, he said, is to locate the vessel. >click to read< 10:58
Chief William Saulis: RCMP continues search for missing fishermen on Monday, say unidentified debris found
The RCMP says it is continuing the recovery mission for five scallop fishers and a vessel missing off the Nova Scotia shore on Monday. Police say helicopter crews did an aerial search of the coastline spanning approximately 100 kilometres, from Digby Gut to Harbourville. The search did not locate the missing fishermen nor the debris from the Chief William Saulis fishing vessel. video, >click to read< 14:06
For Nova Scotia mother of scallop fisherman, a painful wait for her son lost at sea
For Lori Phillips, waiting for news of a son lost at sea is painful, as she says closure could begin with his body’s return from the Bay of Fundy. As of Sunday at 4 p.m. local time, crewman Michael Drake is the only one of the six people on board whose body has been recovered by search teams. Phillips says she hopes desperately her son Aaron Cogswell and the others still missing can be located as well, whether by searches or raising the vessel. The continuing care assistant in the Annapolis Valley has had a trying year, looking after elderly residents in a Berwick, N.S. long-term care facility during the COVID-19 pandemic, and recently grieving the death of her father-in-law. “I want my son home. I want to have something that I could go to,”,,, “I need his body, I need closure and , video, >click to read< 17:27
F/V Chief William Saulis: Helicopter search reveals no sign of scallop fishermen lost off Nova Scotia this morning
RCMP say an aerial search for five fishermen who were working on a scallop boat when it sank in the Bay of Fundy has not spotted any sign of them as of late morning local time today. Police had said in a news release on Saturday that a search with a helicopter would be suspended until Sunday, but have since corrected this to say some aerial searching occurred on Saturday and was continuing into Sunday morning. A release said the search did not locate the missing fishermen or debris from the scallop dragger Chief William Saulis,,, >click to read< 12:29
Search for missing fishermen in Bay of Fundy has paused
The search for five fishermen, and clues about what happened to their missing scallop vessel in the Bay of Fundy, has been put on pause, again.What began as a search-and-rescue mission on the water, as well as by ground and air on Dec. 15, turned into an RCMP recovery mission 36 hours later. All efforts were suspended when a winter storm hit the province on Dec. 17, and resumed only briefly by helicopter the following day. In an update Saturday morning, RCMP said the ground search has been suspended indefinitely because of unsafe conditions. A search by air may resume Sunday if the weather allows. >click to read< 12:14
Please Contribute to Chief William Saulis Families Fund
Charles “Hot Dog” Roberts, Leonard “Layback Lenny” Gabriel, Aaron Cogswell, Eugene “Geno” Francis, Dan Forbes, Mike Drake. These six men were tragically lost while returning to port from a trip fishing for scallops aboard the Chief William Saulis on the morning of December 15th 2020. So far, only Mike Drake’s body has been recovered. Any funds collected from this GoFundMe will be added to that account and will then be provided to the families of these men. Please >click to read< and donate if you can. Fundraiser organizer is Alain D’Entremont. Thank you, Alain. 22:14
An Fundraiser – Help for the Family of Mike Drake of Fortune, NL
Mike Drake at the age of 48 from Fortune, NL was among the crew of six on the Chief William Saulis, a scallop dragger, that sank in the Bay of Fundy this past Tuesday, December 15, 2020. Mike’s body was recovered late Tuesday from the frigid waters off the coast of southwestern Nova Scotia. At this time Mike remains at a funeral home in Nova Scotia while he awaits a flight home to Newfoundland to be returned to his family who are all anxiously awaiting for his arrival back home to give him a proper burial and hopefully give the family some closure to this great tragedy and loss. >click to read the rest<, and, please! Donate if you can. Thank you Joan Caines 20:56
Search resumes for missing F/V Chief William Saulis fishermen in Bay of Fundy
Police say the search for five missing fishermen from the Chief William Saulis fishing vessel in the Bay of Fundy will resume from the air on Friday morning. Nova Scotia RCMP said in a news release that they are partnering with the Department of Lands and Forestry to search by helicopter. The ground search is still suspended due to safety concerns, after a snowstorm that hit the province on Thursday. Police say they will reassess conditions on Saturday. >click to read< 11:37
