Two crew members are dead after their fishing boat, the Fortune Pride, capsized late Thursday off Halifax amid four-metre waves and strong winds.

Two others who were pulled from the frigid waters have been released from hospital.

Jose Teixeira, whose company owns the 18-metre vessel, confirmed in a brief interview with CBC News that Capt. John Allen Baker was one of the two who had died.​​​​​​

On Saturday, Teixeira confirmed the second crew member who died was deckhand Philip MacInnis.

The 53-year-old business owner said that Baker had worked for several years for his company, which owns three vessels, and that the captain had been fishing since he was teenager.

"He was a guy who liked to socialize with friends. He wanted to help others in the industry in any way he could ... He's been fishing since he was a kid, probably 50 years or close to it," he said.

Fin Armsworthy, a councillor in the Municipality of the District of Guysborough, said he had been friends with Baker since they were children and they had fished together. He said Baker and his family are well known in the fishing community of Canso, N.S.

"They lived from the sea," he said. "It's a terrible loss, especially in a close-knit community like Canso.

"He adored fishing, but sometimes the sea is unforgiving."

Baker had previously survived the sinking of the Gentle Lady while operating it in 2013.

CBC News reported in 2017 that the Gentle Lady sank after its load of sea cucumber shifted quickly, causing the ship to lean and water to come on board. Baker made it onto a life-raft with his crew and drifted at sea for over six hours before being rescued.

Teixeira said that Baker had been fishing for silver hake before Thursday's capsizing, adding he'd spoken to the captain as the Fortune Pride was returning with a full catch. He estimated the catch to weigh between 18,000 and 23,000 kilograms.

"When I communicated with them at 8:30 p.m. that night there was no sign of distress," Teixeira said.

Teixeira said the vessel was in "great condition" and had passed an inspection for seaworthiness within the past year. "It was a good, seaworthy, steel boat. That boat has been at sea for a long time."

The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifax responded to an emergency beacon at around 10 p.m. AT Thursday. The location of the beacon was approximately 18 kilometres southeast of Sambro, N.S.

"The vessel itself was unable to get a radio call out, so the first indication we had was that emergency beacon … it was registered, so we were able to contact the right people that were associated with that registration and find out what was going on and how many people were on board," said Kelsey Marshall of the Canadian Coast Guard.

Three crew members were pulled from the water on Thursday night and one at 11:30 a.m. AT Friday, according to Marshall. The water temperature was about 2 C.

Marshall said that while the crew was able to get the life-raft off the Fortune Pride, they weren't able to get on it because of rough seas.

Rescuers did not see the fishing vessel when they arrived on scene, Marshall said.

Two coast guard vessels, the CCGS Hare Bay and the CCGS Sir William Alexander, were involved in the rescue efforts, in addition to a Cormorant helicopter and a Hercules fixed-wing aircraft, said the JRCC.

Marshall said the fourth person who was found was in the life-raft that had overturned. She said the three members who were found Thursday night were wearing survival suits, but the fourth person was not.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada said Friday it is deploying a team to investigate the accident.

Marshall said she didn't know all the details of the fishing trip, but did confirm the vessel had left from Sambro.

In a statement issued Friday night, Premier Tim Houston sent condolences to family and friends of the victims.

"Today, Nova Scotians have another unfortunate reminder of the dangers of working on the sea as the fishing vessel Fortune Pride capsized in the waters near Sambro last night," he wrote.