Lost Fishing Boat Atlantis Found On Ocean Bottom Off Nantucket

Lost Fishing Boat Atlantis Found On Ocean Bottom Off Nantucket
By Natalie White
The Standard-Times
October 1993

NEW BEDFORD - The fishing boat Atlantis, which disappeared nearly a year ago, may have been found intact on the ocean bottom.

"I'm trying to challenge the insurance company to go down and find out what happened to the Atlantis, and trying to get the Coast Guard to reopen the investigation," said Michael Latti, the marine lawyer who believes he has located the 72-foot trawler that was lost last October with five local men aboard. "I am hoping we can pool our resources and bring the boat up."

A few weeks ago, a New Bedford-based boat Costa Corvo pulled up a day shape, used to signal other boats that a boat is fishing, that was believed to be from the Atlantis.

Last weekend, Mr. Latti chartered a boat and sent a remotely operated vehicle into the water to take pictures of the wreck. He said it fits the description of the 72-foot Atlantis, and is just a quarter of a mile from its last reported position.

The wreck is resting on the bottom, 300 feet down, off Nantucket, about 95 miles southeast of New Bedford in the shipping lane.

"The boat is whole, not broken, which is an indication that it was not run down by a steamer," Mr. Latti said. His clients, four families of the missing men, are suing the boat owners, ABC Fishing Corp., claiming that renovations made the boat unstable and caused it to sink.

The Atlantis and its crew - Francis Barroquiero, 32, Edgar Lobo, 34, Joaquin Caseiro, 59, Johnny B. Barros, 43, and Antonio Pinho, 46 - left New Bedford one year ago. The boat stopped in Nantucket for repairs, went out to finish its fishing trip and was never heard from again.

All the fishermen were from the New Bedford area.

Families and friends hope the discovery will provide some answers.

"I think of him, and the tears come to my eyes. I know that boat had to sink," said Gabriel DaRosa, a friend of John Barros. "It hits home. He was one of my best friends. It would be a way to close a chapter. It would be a load off my back to know what really happened."

The Atlantis was due in port last Oct. 29. The Coast Guard searched for five days with cutters and aircraft but turned up no trace.

The crew is presumed dead.