The BC Coroners Service has confirmed the identities of three men who died after their fishing boat capsized off the west coast of Vancouver Island over the weekend.
The ship capsized and eventually sank about 55 kilometres off Estevan Point, north of Tofino, on Saturday. The crew’s disappearance sparked an 18-hour manhunt by air and sea.
The bodies of Duncan resident Wesley Hegglund, 55, and Port Alberni residents Keith Standing, 48, and Doug White, 41, were eventually recovered by the Coast Guard.
A lone survivor from the four-man crew was found clinging to a lifeboat with hypothermia and taken to hospital. His current condition is unknown.
According to the coroners service, Hegglund was the skipper of the 33-metre fishing trawler, Standing was an engineer and White was a deckhand.
Friends and family had previously confirmed Standing’s death on social media, and described him as a man with a big heart, who loved to fish.
A photo of Hegglund was posted to a local fishermen’s Facebook group announcing his passing.
“Some of my best memories are fishing with Wes when we were kids in the late 70s on the Miss Georgina. My condolences to the family,” one person wrote.
The coroners service, police and the Transportation Safety Board continue to investigate the fatal incident.
