Costa & Corvo New Bedford

11/13/2008

Captain Antonio Mesquita and three crew members were hauling in a loaded fish net around midnight on November 13, 2008, when the load shifted to port and water flooded the deck. Mesquita went to the pilot house, where he was trapped when the boat capsized and sank in 120 feet of water on Georges Shoal, 118 miles east of Cape Cod. The crew members--Francisco Brito, Joao Matias, and Jorge Palma--survived by clinging to life rings. They were rescued by the crew of the Mary K. The Coast Guard cutter Seneca and a helicopter searched for the captain, but they were unable to find him.