The absence of a distress alerting device on board the Island Lady, a fishing vessel that disappeared off the southwest coast of Labrador last September was the focus of a Transportation Safety Board report into the fatal sinking.

Twenty-five-year old Marc Russell of Mary’s Harbour and 30-year-old Joey Jenkins of Lodge Bay and the vessel the Island Lady were never located after failing to return from a fishing trip on September 17, 2021.

The TSB’s report says neither the vessel, nor the crew carried operable distress alerting devices, and no distress call was received from the vessel.

That, says the Transportation Safety Board, resulted in a delay in search and rescue efforts being initiated in a large search area—greatly reducing the crew’s chance of survival.

The TSB notes that between 2015 and 2021 there were 15 similar occurrences, claiming the lives of 34 fish harvesters.

The Board says its investigation revealed that while the Island Lady was registered with DFO, it was not registered with Transport Canada, similar to the situation involving the Sarah Anne. The investigation into the Sarah Anne’s sinking showed that a large number of vessels are operating in a similar manner. The TSB is recommending that DFO require all commercial fishing vessels to have a current and accurate Transport Canada registration.

In the meantime, the Labrador Shrimp Company last month provided 70 commercial fishing enterprises in the southern Labrador region with EPIRB beacons in memory of Russell and Jenkins.

A long-time advocate for marine safety says Marc Russell’s family was instrumental in the effort to have EPIRBs installed on local fishing vessels.

Merv Wiseman says Dwight and Jeannette Russell have channeled their grief in a way to ensure that a similar tragedy doesn’t befall another family.

He says Dwight Russell was appointed as the Chair of the Labrador Shrimp Company and was instrumental in the supply of EPIRBs to local fishing crews.