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Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →The Andrea Gail’s exact sinking location is not confirmed. NOAA’s National Weather Service places the 72-foot fishing vessel’s last reported position about 180 miles northeast of Sable Island; the storm reached peak intensity two days later, about 340 miles south of Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Where did the Andrea Gail sink?
There is no confirmed wreck coordinate in the cited official accounts. The National Weather Service (NWS) gives the vessel’s last reported position as about 180 miles northeast of Sable Island, off Nova Scotia. That figure describes the last reported position, not a verified sinking site. NOAA NWS Heritage’s account, published in 2021, identifies the Andrea Gail as a 72-foot commercial fishing vessel carrying six crew members, all of whom were lost.
The Ocean Prediction Center (OPC) identifies an evening radio-contact position on October 28, 1991, and says the rapidly intensifying low-pressure center was over that position. This locates the last radio contact in the developing storm; it does not establish where the vessel went down. The OPC account labels it the last known radio contact.
Where was the Perfect Storm?
There was no single fixed location: the storm developed and moved across the North Atlantic. The key locations refer to different events and dates:
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| Event | Location and date | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Andrea Gail’s last reported position | About 180 miles northeast of Sable Island; reported in the NWS account | The vessel’s last reported position, not a confirmed wreck site. NWS Heritage |
| Last known radio contact | Evening of October 28, 1991; the OPC account identifies the position as the center of the intensifying low | A radio-contact position, not a verified sinking coordinate. Ocean Prediction Center |
| Storm’s peak intensity | About 340 miles south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, on October 30, 1991 | The storm’s later peak, not the Andrea Gail’s reported position. National Park Service |
| Nova Scotia landfall | November 2, 1991 | The NWS says the system later made landfall in Nova Scotia. NWS Heritage |
How did the storm develop?
The NWS account says a low-pressure system developed east of Nova Scotia on October 28. After the Andrea Gail’s last radio contact, the vessel was lost after midnight as the storm intensified. The NPS describes the system as beginning extratropically, absorbing Hurricane Grace, and later becoming an unnamed hurricane. These stages explain why “the Perfect Storm’s location” depends on which point in its development is meant.
The NWS says the storm did not make landfall in the United States, although it affected U.S. coasts. Its later landfall was in Nova Scotia on November 2. Coastal impacts and landfall are not the same thing: a storm can affect a coastline without crossing it.
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What were conditions like?
In its 2021 account, the NWS reports waves almost 30 feet high as common from North Carolina to Canada, with isolated rogue waves as high as 90 feet. Those are storm-impact descriptions across a broad region, not measurements taken at the Andrea Gail. The same account calls the event “a highly unusual and record-setting storm for the northwest Atlantic ocean.”
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why the location is often confused
Sebastian Junger’s book The Perfect Storm and the film of the same name helped bring the Andrea Gail’s story to a wide audience. But “where the Andrea Gail sank” and “where the Perfect Storm peaked” ask about separate events. The ship’s last reported position is northeast of Sable Island; the storm’s peak was south of Halifax on October 30.
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The Coast Guard Historian’s Office catalog lists an investigation into the Andrea Gail’s disappearance in the North Atlantic between October 28 and 30, 1991. The catalog entry does not state a causal finding, so it cannot be used to claim a specific explanation for the vessel’s loss. Coast Guard Historian’s Office
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