By Ted Cohen
The U.S. Navy has rejected a request to use its assets salvaging a fishing boat that sank with a UVM grad on board.
Jada Samitt, 22, was working as a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration fisheries observer aboard a dragger that sank in January off Gloucester, Massachusetts.
Samitt was among seven crew members on the 72-foot Lily Jean, for which the Coast Guard later suspended its search.
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healy said Wednesday the Navy is denying her request to help raise the Lily Jean and the remains of its sailors from the ocean floor.
The Navy said it is unable to help with salvage and recovery efforts, WJAR-TV reports.
The 72-foot vessel sank in frigid waters off the coast of Cape Ann January 30.
Seven people were onboard the vessel when it went down, six of whom are still missing and believed on the boat, including Samitt.
Samitt graduated a year ago after studying population dynamics and soil science at the University of Vermont.
She had been working as a NOAA fisheries observer only six months when she went down with the ship.
After covering more than 1,000 square miles following the sinking, the U.S. Coast Guard suspended the search for the missing crew.
The agency had received an emergency position-indicating radio beacon from the boat.
After failing to make contact with the vessel the Coast Guard launched a helicopter and boat to begin searching.
Crews located a debris field in the vicinity of the EPIRB activation about 25 miles off the coast of Cape Ann.
In a related development, Sebastian Hunger, author of “The Perfect Storm,” is helping launch a fund drive for a UVM scholarship established to honor Samitt’s memory, according to The Cape Cod Chronicle.
The fund supports students at UVM’s School of Environment and Natural Resources, where Samitt graduated with a degree in natural resources in May 2025.
The scholarship will help students get out into the community and build relationships.
“It’s not just the science,” Peter Newman, school dean, said, “it’s building relationships. Jada did this naturally.
“She knew how to connect with people, which is a neat skill set for environmental leaders,” he added.