Photo: The Canadian Press

A CH-146 Griffon from 5 Wing Goose Bay is shown over the search area off Mary's Harbour, N.L. Saturday, Sept. 18, 2021.

Searchers have located a blue storage tub that the joint rescue co-ordination centre says is likely debris from a nine-metre fishing boat that went missing with two men on board off Labrador.

The fishing vessel Island Lady departed the small coastal community of Mary's Harbour Friday morning with two men on board, and was reported missing that night.

The Cape Islander-style boat had two outboard motors and was equipped with radio, and had been expected back in the harbour by 5 p.m. on Friday.

Military helicopters, airplanes, coast guard cutters and local fishing boats were participating in the search on Sunday.

Lt.-Cmdr. Brian Owens, a spokesman for the joint rescue co-ordination centre, says searchers located a blue storage tub for fish and believe it is likely from the missing boat, but they haven't found other debris.

"It's not 100 per cent certain it's the Island Lady, but we're making that assumption and it's helping define the search area," Owens said in an interview on Sunday.

Family members identified the two missing men on social media as Marc Russell and Joey Jenkins, and said Russell made a call around 4 p.m. on Friday evening as his boat was heading back to harbour. The co-ordinates of the call were passed on to searchers.

Owens said the search had expanded to cover more than 3,000 square nautical miles as of Sunday morning.

A number of coastal communities in Labrador held prayer vigils for the missing men overnight on Sunday.