More than seven years after the F/V Mistress vanished into frigid New Year's Day seas off Block Island, divers have located wreckage believed to be from the vessel in about 92 feet of water — roughly 50 feet from the base of Turbine No. 1 at the Block Island Wind Farm. Side-scan sonar and underwater photographs documented the site, reigniting scrutiny of a tragedy that claimed two local fishermen and left a lone survivor with a harrowing story of escape.
The 52-foot wooden trawler sank after radioing that it was taking on water in the early hours of January 1, 2019, according to 1420 WBSM. A NOAA incident report filed after the sinking found that the vessel began flooding off Block Island and capsized once its dewatering pumps could no longer keep pace with incoming seawater, as documented by The Scuba News. The boat carried a crew of three; only one man survived.
A Family Boat, A Family Loss
Captain Oscar Diaz and deckhand John Ansay Jr., who was also Diaz's nephew, were lost in the sinking, per the station's report. Tim Diaz was pulled from a life raft and rescued by the crew of the F/V Captain Bligh, according to the same account. The Mistress was owned by Hope Fisheries, Inc. and worked out of Point Judith, Rhode Island, according to Latti Associates LLC.
The scale of the original search underscored how dire conditions were that night. The Coast Guard deployed multiple cutters, an aircraft, and heavy-weather motor lifeboat crews from Station Menemsha, covering 2,152 square nautical miles over 72 hours before suspending active rescue efforts, according to MV Times. The Coast Guard's search continued beyond survivability models for people in winter seas wearing survival suits, per the same outlet.
Helicopter Search Cut Short Near Turbines
Coast Guard search-and-rescue logs from that night show an MH-60T Jayhawk helicopter aborted its search for the Mistress crew after roughly 37 minutes, citing severe weather, poor visibility, and proximity to the wind turbines, according to National Fisherman. The Coast Guard's investigation reached no conclusions about the sinking, and the Coast Guard later conducted training at the Block Island Wind Farm.
Fishing boats searched the area, and offers of help came in.
Divers Document Wreckage And Possible Remains
Scientific divers sponsored by Green Oceans inspected the seabed site in August 2026, documenting features consistent with a wreck believed to be the Mistress, including its propeller, shaft, fuel tanks, net drum, and deck hatch, along with apparent human remains, according to The Scuba News. Green Oceans marine professionals first located the site using side-scan sonar in July 2026, per National Fisherman's reporting. Green Oceans is a nonprofit that opposes offshore wind development off the Massachusetts and Rhode Island coasts, and believes there could be a link between the sinking and the wind farm's presence.
Michael Lombardi, president of Green Oceans, said the wreck's orientation merits investigating whether the crew made an emergency turn to starboard to avoid colliding with a turbine, per Fox News Digital. With the hull already full of water, he said, that kind of maneuver could have caused the vessel to roll and sink. The Coast Guard's original investigation reached no conclusions about the cause of the sinking, and Green Oceans has openly criticized how that inquiry was handled.
Push To Reopen The Investigation
Green Oceans has submitted side-scan sonar imagery and dive photos to the Coast Guard, the National Transportation Safety Board, and Rhode Island authorities, and has asked the Department of the Interior to coordinate an investigation, according to Newport Buzz. The group says the discovery raises broader questions about how rescuers can safely assist distressed vessels near offshore wind turbines in the rough conditions routinely encountered off the Northeast coast.
The Block Island Wind Farm, commissioned in December 2016 as the first commercial offshore wind project in the United States, consists of five 6-megawatt turbines standing 600 feet tall, about 3.8 miles off Block Island, according to background compiled by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. The facility has a capacity of 30 megawatts. Concerns have been raised about navigation and search-and-rescue near turbines.
For now, federal regulators at the Coast Guard and NTSB have not said whether they will reopen the case, and the identity of the human remains found at the wreck site has not been confirmed. Those questions remain open more than seven years after the Mistress went down, leaving Point Judith's fishing community, and the family of John Ansay Jr., still waiting for answers.
