A Rhode Island group says it has found the wreck of a fishing boat that sank with two men aboard more than seven years ago, lying about 50 feet from an offshore wind turbine.
Story Highlights
- The F/V Mistress went down off Block Island, R.I., on Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2019. Its captain and a crewman were never recovered.
- Green Oceans, a Rhode Island environmental group, says its divers found the wreck about 50 feet from a Block Island Wind Farm turbine, along with what appear to be human remains.
- The group wants the sinking investigated again and the wreck site secured.
- The group’s president laid out the case in a news report published Monday, Oct. 12. Authorities have not confirmed the wreck is the Mistress.
The group says the find could show what happened in the boat’s final minutes and whether the two men are still aboard. It is pressing for a new investigation because the Coast Guard closed its case without ever locating the hull.
A New Year’s Day Mayday
The Mistress was a 52-foot commercial fishing boat. On New Year’s Day 2019, its captain, Oscar Diaz, sent a mayday, the emergency call for help at sea, saying the boat was taking on water near the Block Island Wind Farm. That wind farm, the first offshore wind farm in the United States, is a row of five turbines off Block Island that began running in 2016.
Another fishing boat pulled the captain’s son, Tim Diaz, from a life raft. The captain and his nephew, John Ansay, were lost. The Coast Guard searched in winds near 40 mph. Its records show a rescue helicopter turned back after 37 minutes, citing high winds, poor visibility and the nearby turbines. The Coast Guard listed the boat and crew as lost and closed its investigation.
How the Wreck Was Found
Michael Lombardi, president of Green Oceans, said two contractors who had worked near turbine No. 1 tipped the group off. One had heard talk of wreckage on the sea floor there. The other said he saw wreckage himself during survey work. Lombardi also went back to the Coast Guard’s accident report and plotted the GPS positions tied to the distress calls. He said they pointed to the same turbine.
A team using side-scan sonar, a tool that uses sound waves to draw a picture of the sea floor, found a target on July 27. Divers went down on Aug. 30 in about 92 feet of water. They documented a propeller and shaft, fuel tanks, a net drum, a deck hatch and fish-processing gear that the group says match the Mistress. According to Lombardi, Tim Diaz confirmed the net drum came from his father’s boat, since he built that equipment himself. Lombardi said he is “100%” sure the wreck is the Mistress.
What the Group Wants
Green Oceans has sent its sonar images, photos and records to the Coast Guard, to Rhode Island officials and to the National Transportation Safety Board, the federal agency that investigates transportation accidents. It has asked the Interior Department to lead a joint review with the Coast Guard and to reopen the casualty investigation. It also wants the site secured for forensic study and a public account of all underwater maintenance at the turbine since 2019.
“We hope this discovery provides answers and some measure of closure for the fishermen’s families,” Lombardi said.
What the Group Says About the Turbine
Lombardi says the way the wreck lies suggests the crew may have turned to the right, or starboard, to steer clear of the turbine. “With the hull full of water, this maneuver could have ultimately caused the vessel to roll and then sink,” he said. That is the group’s view. No official has said the turbine caused the sinking.
The group also points out that federal approvals for offshore wind since 2019 relied on Coast Guard findings that turbines would not seriously hinder rescues at sea. Later approvals for other wind projects called the effects on boat safety “minimal.” Barbara Chapman, a Green Oceans trustee, asked, “What is ‘minimal’ about the loss of two men’s lives and the consequences for the families they left behind?”
What Comes Next
Officials have not announced whether they will reopen the case or recover the remains. No response from the wind farm’s operator has been reported. A confirmed identification would give the Diaz and Ansay families an answer they have waited more than seven years for.