One person died and one was missing after the crew of a fishing boat abandoned ship on Saturday in the Atlantic Ocean east of St. John's, N.L.

RCMP confirmed that one of four people recovered from the ocean died.

Three other crew members were taken to St. John's Health Sciences Centre suffering from mild hypothermia, local reports said.

The fifth crew member who abandoned ship was missing.

Jeri Grychowski of the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Halifax said a Hercules aircraft and several ships would continue the search overnight.

"Our understanding from the survivors is that the fifth person was in … an immersion suit," Grychowski said. "They estimate a 36-hour survival time with the suit on."

There were conflicting reports as to how many of the crew had been wearing immersion suits when they abandoned ship.

The crew of the fishing vessel Sea Gypsy Enterprise issued a call for help at around 10:45 local time on Saturday morning. There were no details available on what forced the crew to abandon their vessel.

A Provincial Airlines plane flying over the area, about 130 kilometres east of St. John's, had reported several survivors in the water.

A Cormorant helicopter out of Gander, N.L., and a Hercules aircraft out of Greenwood, N.S., were sent to the area. The Canadian Coast Guard offshore patrol vessel Leonard J. Cowley was also dispatched to the area with co-ordinates for a search pattern.

With files from The Canadian Press