Flames and smoke billow from the Northern Provider. The crew of the Roddickton-based crab boat was retrieved by the Bonnie Lee-Ann. EUGENE ANDREWS PHOTO
Hard start to crab season
Northern Provider burns off Grey Islands
By Aaron Beswick
FOR THE SOU’WESTER
Glen Andrews was steaming near the Grey Islands on Wednesday, May 14 when his VHF crackled a mayday call from a fellow fisherman.
“He was in trouble.”
Andrews opened up the 65-foot Bonnie Lee-Ann’s throttle and headed for Keith Pittman’s Northern Provider of Roddickton. The message was relayed to Coast Guard Search and Rescue headquarters and a Cormorant helicopter prepared to race north for the stricken vessel.
As the Bonnie Lee-Ann arrived, Andrews watched flames leaping from the stricken vessel, four crewmen wearing survival suits in a life raft and the boat’s owner still aboard.
A line was thrown to the life raft and the crewmembers were hauled aboard. The line was then thrown to Pittman who boarded the raft as the crab pots near him caught fire.
“The flames weren’t very far from him when he got aboard,” said Andrews. “They were leaping from the wheelhouse five or six feet.”
It’s a hard beginning to the crab season for Pittman and a strong reminder to fishermen of the dangers of their profession.
“It’s not easy after sinking so many years into the fishery and a million dollar business,” said Andrews. “My heart went out to them – there’s five fishermen without jobs at the beginning of the season.”
The Bonnie Lee-Ann returned to Englee with the crew and the Cormorant helicopter was cancelled.
