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A FISHERMAN has revealed the haunting final call he had with his friend hours before his vessel sank taking the whole crew with it.

Captain Gus Sanfilippo was the skipper of the Lily Jean which sank off the coast of Massachusetts in the early hours of Friday morning.

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Captain Gus Sanfilippo was in charge of the vessel when it sank 25 miles off the coast of MassachusettsCredit: Facebook
 


Officials suspended search and rescue efforts on Saturday, 24 hours after an alert was sent from the Lily JaneCredit: AP
Sanfilippo, a commercial fisherman from Gloucester, appeared on TV in 2012 for an episode on the History Channel show ‘Nor’Easter Men’ documenting the dangerous work of he and his crew.

In the early hours of Friday morning, without issuing a Mayday call, the Lily Jean sank as winter storms lashed the East Coast and waves reached around four feet high.

The Coast Guard received a radio beacon alert from the 72-foot boat, triggering a search and rescue response when they were unable to make contact with the vessel carrying 7 people.

Rescuers recovered one dead body after finding debris in the frigid water and an empty lifeboat.

The rest of the crew are still missing but presumed dead with officials bringing the search for survivors to an end on Saturday.

Now, fellow fisherman Sebastian Noto has revealed that he spoke with Sanfilippo just before the Lily Jean sank.

Noto spoke with the skipper at around 3am to discuss the biting weather conditions.

“I quit. It’s too cold,” Sanfilippo told Noto, he told NBC Boston.

“He was calm. He just couldn’t do the cold because the air holes were freezing.”

“I was about 30 miles east of him. We usually work together all the time. We are like glue man. We give a lot of information back-and-forth.”


All seven of those on board are presumed dead with the body of only one crew member recoveredCredit: AP
However, he knew something had gone wrong when he suddenly stopped hearing from his friend.

The Lily Jean went down around 25 miles off the coast of Cape Ann and officials searched the surrounding 1,000 square-miles with aircraft and multiple vessels.

An investigation into what happened is ongoing, officials have said.

Captain Jamie Frederick, the commander of Coast Guard Sector Boston said that the decision to end the search was “incredibly difficult”.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with all the family members and friends of the lost crew of the Lily Jean, and with the entire Gloucester community during this heartbreaking time,” he said.