An all-out rescue effort has been launched for five Nova Scotia fishermen whose boat capsized late Sunday during a raging storm that battered the East Coast.

The crew of the 13-metre-long Miss Ally left Cape Sable Island on Feb. 12. The swordfish and halibut-fishing vessel was pounded by gale-force winds and 10-metre high waves before transmitting a distress signal from its emergency locator beacon about 11 p.m. Sunday.

That prompted a full-scale search by the Canadian Forces, Canadian Coast Guard and a Falcon twin-engine jet from Cape Cod belonging to the U.S. Coast Guard. The intense search continued Monday without success and will resume Tuesday.

The missing men are based out of Wood Harbour, NS, a community of 7,000 in the south end of the province, where a prayer vigil was held Sunday night at the Calvary Baptist Church.

The storm that capsized the Miss Ally is the same one that whipped the Maritimes and left thousands without power and closed schools.

Most of the missing fishermen are in their 20s and from the Woods Harbour area.