The Canadian Coast Guard has delivered devastating news this afternoon, confirming that one of its employees has been lost at sea.

“Crews conducted an extensive search and rescue operation at sea and in the air, which ended last night,” the Coast Guard noted in a statement. “Our thoughts are with the family and loved ones of the missing crew member, the crew of the CCGS Vincent Massey and all our employees.”

The Canadian Coast Guard says the crewmember was not on board the vessel when it docked at St. John’s on Monday morning. An extensive search of the vessel proved unsuccessful and a search was launched immediately.

NTV’s Becky Daley is covering the story and will have more at 6.