Police have released unionized crewmembers who were detained early Thursday near the fishing vessel Newfoundland Lynx in Bay Roberts.

The two dozen men were released around 7 a.m. after spending about two hours in custody. No charges were laid.

The locked-out crew had been preventing replacement workers from boarding the Lynx, which is owned by Ocean Choice International.

At 1:30 a.m. Thursday, the busload of replacement workers arrived in Bay Roberts.

A few hours later, RCMP officers moved in and began removing unionized crewmembers from the picket line. They were taken to the detachment in nearby Harbour Grace.

The Mounties then escorted the replacement workers across the picket line, many of whom ran from their bus to the trawler at about 4 a.m., according to the wife of one union worker at the scene.

"They were like thieves in the night," said Beryl Fisher.

"They ran, they were frightened to death."

The Newfoundland Lynx left port shortly thereafter.

After they were released, the union workers moved their picket line to OCI's headquarters in Paradise.

OCI's Lynx is being tracked on MarineTraffic.com. (MarineTraffic.com)