The US Coast Guard is launching a special investigation after the tragic capsizing of a fishing boat off the coast of Massachusetts claimed the lives of its reality TV star skipper and his crew.
The USCG is teaming with the National Transit Safety Board for a district-level formal investigation into the sinking, which is for incidents “of significant regional importance or those that may reveal broader issues with a class of vessel or areas of technical concern,” officials announced Monday.
Gus Sanfilippo, the seasoned captain of the Lily Jean out of Gloucester, five crew members and a NOAA fisheries observer died after their 72-foot fishing vessel capsized Friday as temperatures at sea were a frigid 12 degrees.
The crew members have been identified as father and son Paul Beal Sr. and Paul Beal Jr.; John Rousanidis; Freeman Short; and Sean Thierren. Jada Sammitt was the NOAA observer.
Lt. Cmdr. Brett Igo, the USCG Northeast District investigation oversight coordinator, will lead the investigative team, which includes technical and legal experts.
“The purpose of a Coast Guard investigation is to identify measures that can improve the safety of life and property at sea, not to assign civil or criminal blame,” the Coast Guard said.
The investigation is expected to be completed within several months. Details will be made public as the probe unfolds, officials said.
Officials responded to an emergency beacon alert just before 7 a.m. Friday some 25 miles off the coast of Cape Ann. The Coast Guard issued an emergency alert after not being able to make contact with the crew, and sent a helicopter and boat crew to the location, according to the agency.
Rescuers found one person dead, floating in the water amongst debris and an empty lifeboat when they arrived at the location. It’s not clear whose body was recovered.
The search was suspended the following day after teams exhausted all of their search efforts and the seven people were declared dead.
Fisherman Sebastian Noto said he spoke with Sanfilippo at around 3 a.m, and spoke about the wicked conditions at sea.
“He was calm. He just couldn’t do the cold because the air holes were freezing,” Noto told NBC Boston.
Noto became concerned when there was no sign of Sanfilippo hours later.
“I was about 30 miles east of him. We usually work together all the time. We are like glue man. We give a lot of information back-and-forth,” Noto told the outlet.
Sanfilippo, a fifth generation commercial fisherman, was featured alongside his crew on the Lily Jean in a 2012 episode of the History Channel show “‘Nor’Easter Men.”
The show documented the fisherman working in dangerous conditions for hours on end — spending as many as 10 days at sea on one fishing trip.