French ship sinks off Newfoundland

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- A French cargo ship with a crew of four capsized and sank off the southern coast of Newfoundland, the Canadian Coast Guard reported.

The 100-foot Cap Blanc was headed for its home port in St. Pierre & Miquelon and was carrying a cargo of road salt when it capsized Tuesday without issuing a distress signal, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported.

A search wasn't launched until the ship was reported late in arriving, Coast Guard officials said.

Divers reached the ship 12 miles south of Marystown, Newfoundland, before it sank completely and got responses to knocks on the hull, but no one emerged.

Jeri Grychowski of the Canadian Coast Guard rescue coordination center in Halifax told the Canwest News Service searchers found one of the ship's three lifeboats, but no survivors.

Two Coast Guard ships and a Royal Canadian Mounted Police patrol boat searched through the night and helicopters and aircraft returned to the air at sunrise Wednesday, the reports said.