36 Missing as Ship Sinks Off Canada : Accident: Greek and Philippine crew members are lost in stormy seas nearly 1,000 miles east of Newfoundland. Lights, but no survivors, are seen.

None of the 36 Greek and Philippine crew members of a freighter that apparently sank in a North Atlantic winter storm had been found shortly after a ship came on the scene Saturday to search for survivors, the Canadian Coast Guard said.

The Bahamian tanker Freja Sveia, which arrived on the scene where the Liberian-registered Marika had sent out a distress signal, reported finding lights in the water but no crew members, Coast Guard spokesman Don Bedell told Reuters.

He said the 900-foot iron-ore carrier left Sept Iles, Quebec, on Monday bound for the Netherlands and hit 30-foot seas 935 miles east of Newfoundland.

But Bedell added that the ship had carried several lifeboats and there was a chance that survivors could be found, although the rough conditions would make rescue difficult.

A Canadian Coast Guard Hercules aircraft was also on the way to the area to search for survivors, he said.

An earlier flight by a Coast Guard Hercules had seen lights bobbing in the water where the ship had sent out distress signals, he said.

In London, Lloyd’s Casualty Reporting Service quoted “St. John’s radio” as saying that the ship had sunk in bad weather and that life rafts and survivors were in the water.

Lloyd’s reported that the 900-foot-long freighter was built in 1973. It was operated by Atlantic Maritime Enterprises SA in Piraeus, Greece.

All vessels in the area were requested to proceed to the area to render assistance, it said.

Bedell cautioned that any rescue operation would be very dangerous.

“In those kinds of stormy seas a rescue of any sort will be pretty rough,” he said.

“If the tanker comes to lower its rescue boats, they could be easily smashed against the hull of the boat because of the waves and winds,” he said.

Last winter, a cargo ship sank in heavy seas off Nova Scotia, drowning 32 crew members.