Sonar search set for Friday off Nova Scotia for missing scallop dragger

HILLSBURN, N.S. -- RCMP say a Canadian Coast Guard vessel will help with a sonar search for the missing scallop dragger that sank with six crew off Nova Scotia's southwest coast earlier this month.

The vessel is to arrive in Digby. N.S., on Friday, where it will provide a platform for the RCMP's underwater recovery team.

Police say a helicopter search continued today along the coastline from Digby Gut to Harbourville.

On Tuesday, the Mounties said they found debris that was "consistent" with a section of the upper portion of the Chief William Saulis.

The dragger was on its way back from a fishing trip when it sank early on Dec. 15, and five of the six crew members remain missing.

The body of 48-year-old Michael Drake from Newfoundland and Labrador was found along the shoreline several hours after the vessel went down.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 30, 2020.

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  Members of a ground search and rescue team walk along the shore of the Bay of Fundy in Hillsburn, N.S. on Dec. 16, 2020, as they continue to look for five fishermen missing after the scallop dragger Chief William Saulis sank in the Bay of Fundy. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan)