ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - Two men transporting a tugboat off the shores of eastern Newfoundland died after their vessel suddenly took on water and sank, the Canadian Coast Guard said Friday.

Search and rescue officials responded to the scene in Trinity Bay after receiving 'a very garbled and distorted mayday call'Thursday night, said Kevin Barnes, a maritime search and rescue co-ordinator.

The bodies of the men, one 68 and the other in his mid-30s, were found floating in the frigid waters about 12 kilometres from shore, Barnes said. They were wearing survival suits.

'Both survival suits had considerable water inside the suits,'Barnes said.

'Somehow water got in, which reduces the thermal ability of the suits to keep you alive.'

The 15-metre steel tugboat, Check-Mate III, went down north of Baccalieu Island after leaving Wesleyville, N.L. The men were ferrying the boat, which had just been sold to someone in Nova Scotia, to St. John's when they were forced to abandon ship, Barnes said.

A Cormorant helicopter, a Hercules aircraft and two vessels were dispatched to the scene. The coast guard vessel George R. Pearkes brought their bodies Friday morning to St. John's.