NEWINGTON, N.H. (AP) – A search was conducted Saturday for two lobstermen from Manchester, whose boat was found in Great Bay, the opposite direction from the ocean where they supposedly were going to fish.

Athan Chamberas, 29, and Michael Vougias, 21, were last seen leaving Little Bay Marina on Dover Point at 4:30 p.m. Friday in Chamberas’ 36-foot lobster boat, the Black Beauty, the Coast Guard said.

The mother of one of the men said they were headed for an area near the Isle of Shoals, about six miles off the New Hampshire coast in the Atlantic Ocean.

She reported them overdue at home at 11 p.m. Friday.

A Coast Guard search by air and sea began at first light Saturday, but at 10 a.m. a passing boater spotted the Black Beauty anchored near Nannie Island in Great Bay, at 10 a.m., the opposite direction if the two were going to the ocean. No one was on board, and the skiff with the boat was gone.

Coast Guard crews boarded the boat and said they found no obvious signs of distress.

They planned to resume the search Sunday morning in Great Bay.


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.