The search for the captain of a fishing vessel that sank off Nova Scotia yesterday has been called off, and rescuers said sea conditions were so poor that other crew members are lucky to be alive.

Maj. James Simiana of Joint Task Force Atlantic said search efforts to find the captain of the 17-metre Pubnico Explorer were terminated because it is unlikely he would survive such a long time in the water despite wearing a survival suit.

Simiana said the captain was spotted on the sinking fishing vessel by his crew members shortly after the ship went down. The Pubnico Explorer sank by the stern so quickly and in such rough seas that it was lucky that anyone survived the ordeal.

The ship radioed Wednesday morning to say that its pump had failed and it was taking on water as it tried to return to its home port of Meteghan, N.S.

Crew members had managed to get into a life-raft and were rescued by the Canadian Coast Guard cutter West Port shortly after the fishing boat went under. The fishermen were in good condition and the West Port continued to search for the missing captain before eventually returning to port.

Another coast guard vessel, Edward Cornwallis, continued to search for the man through the night despite poor visibility and rough seas.

Simiana said that the immersion suit, equipped with a strobe light, would have help the man survive for a short period of time, but the air and water temperatures dropped overnight and there was little likelihood that he would be found alive.

Conditions were very poor during the search with high winds and up to six-metre seas and snow squalls.

Military aircraft from Canada and a radar-equipped jet from the U.S. Coast Guard joined in to search the 400-square-metre area during the search. It was called off at noon.