The owner of the Atlantic Charger, which sank in the Davis Strait last month, is asking why a search and rescue helicopter wasn't dispatched from Labrador to rescue the crew.

Brad Watkins, who owned the Atlantic Charger before it sank in off Resolution Island Sept. 22, said he's grateful to the "awesome" search and rescue team that responded.

However, he says his crew members were disappointed and angry by the absence of a helicopter during the rescue.

The crew of the Atlantic Charger spent hours in a life-raft before being picked up by a cargo ship. (Canadian Armed Forces)

"They wanna know where the chopper was. They asked me, 'Where was the damn chopper,' and I started asking questions," Watkins told CBC's The Broadcast.

Watkins said his men spent hours in a life-raft before they were put aboard a cargo ship and then brought to Harbour Grace by another fishing boat, the Katshsheshuk.

"If it wasn't for those vessels, would there ever have been a chopper arrived in that area?" Watkins said.

Atlantic Charger owner Brad Watkins says his men asked him 'Where's the damn chopper?' (CBC)

"We got no life-saving equipment down there. We've got a lot of men on the water, a lot of seafarers, and if they go in the water, if there's not another commercial vessel in the area then there's not much hope."

'Save some lives'

Watkins said members of his crew had limited radio contact with search and rescue, but were told it would take hours to get a helicopter from Gander.

"The boys were told the chopper was going to be five hours before she was dispatched … they may have heard wrong through this radio, but I am quite sure they said it was going to be the next morning before the chopper would show up," Watkins said.

The Atlantic Charger was fishing for turbot, a long way from home. (CBC)

"And as far as I'm being told by sources, the chopper wouldn't have made it. She had mechanical troubles. There wasn't even a back up chopper."

Watkins vowed to put pressure on government to ensure there were resources put in place for future incidents.

"I can't help but think all the money we're sending overseas, I'm all for that, but help our own people first," he said.

"Put a chopper down in [Happy Valley-Goose Bay] and save some lives when it needs to be saved."

The Atlantic Charger was a state-of-the-art fishing boat with the best technology. Watkins says it was facing a 'wall of water' and rogue waves before it went down. (CBC)

As for what caused his boat to sink, Watkins says he may never know, but weather was a big factor.

"She took a couple of bad [swells] and never recovered. If there's other stuff that went on there, something that give out or broke for water to get into the vessel, I guess we'll never know that because she's not afloat," he said.

"But we do know that a couple of rogue waves, one after the other did initially put the boat under, and she didn't recover."