HALIFAX: A sailor clinging to his dead shipmate was plucked from the North Atlantic after a ship sank in stormy seas, killing at least four. The sailor, suffering from extreme hypothermia, was rescued after almost 18 hours in the water. Four others, including the one he was clinging to, have been found dead. Another was still missing.

Rescuers saved nine other sailors who had managed to get into a covered raft as they abandoned the bulk carrier Vanessa 450 nautical miles off the Newfoundland coast.

The six members of the 15-man crew who did not make it on to rafts were apparently swept overboard with only lifejackets and no thermal insulation. Six civilian ships had gathered to comb the area, aided by three long-range military aircraft, two from Canada and one from the United States.