The bodies of the two fishermen missing from the Misty Blue were recovered by state police divers on Monday.
"Our divers recovered two bodies from the sunken vessel Misty Blue today. The first recovery was at 10:30 a.m., the second at 4:20 p.m. We offer our deepest condolences to their families. I have no further information to relay," said spokesman Dave Procopio.
The 69-foot clammer Misty Blue sank 10 miles off Nantucket, Mass., on Monday, Dec. 4, after its crew issued a distress call around 6 p.m. The boat rolled over while harvesting surf clams with four fishermen aboard.
The Misty Blue’s captain, Eric Arabian, 44, and crewman Colby McMullen, 22, were rescued by the F/V Enterprise, which was working in the area. But Michael Roberts, 44, and Jonathan Saraiva, 32, were found inside the boat and recovered by Massachusetts State Police divers.
Weather and ocean conditions prevented troopers from diving to inspect the boat for two weeks.
The two survivors were reportedly wearing survival suits at the time of the incident, while the others were donning their suits when the boat rolled.
The Enterprise and two other fishing boats searched the area for the missing crew members, according to a statement from Atlantic Capes Fisheries, which controls the Misty Blue’s operator, New Jersey-based Sea Harvest. The Misty Blue’s life raft was found empty.
The Coast Guard took over the search, covering a 1,605 square-nautical-mile area without finding the lost crew members, but they did spot a debris field within an hour of the accident.
