4 rescued from sinking herring boat off Miscou

Four people were rescued from a herring boat before it sank off the coast of Miscou, N.B., early Monday.

Herring fisherman Steven Hughes was the first person to arrive at the scene. He said he and his crew were alerted around 5 a.m. AT that a boat was taking on water.

"There was water over the engines and the engine stalled, so they had no more power for it to advance," he said. "The water was coming up to the battery, so basically ... their radio, stuff like that, there was a time limit on that usage."

Hughes said they then called the coast guard and decided to tow the boat.

Around 6 a.m., other boats came around with pumps, he said.

"They tried to pump it, but the boat was taking too much water," Hughes said.

He said the captain of the sinking vessel decided to abandon the ship around 6:30 a.m.

A different boat had to get the crew to the wharf, as the wind prevented Hughes' vessel from moving.

Hughes said the captain of the sunk vessel believed he had hit a buoy, damaging the boat's shaft.