Forty-two Canadians spent 16 hours on life rafts in the Atlantic Ocean Friday, awaiting rescue after their school ship capsized in heavy winds.

Despite the harrowing ordeal, all of the ship's occupants were rescued safely in rough seas off the coast of Brazil by three cargo vessels.

The 57-metre ship was carrying 64 people when it went down about 500 kilometres from Rio de Janeiro.

The ship had 48 high school and university students on board, most of them from Canada. The other students are from the U.S., New Zealand, Europe, Mexico, Australia and the Caribbean.

Brazilian officials say that the passengers and crew will be transferred to a navy vessel and taken to Rio de Janeiro. It isn't yet known when they will arrive on dry land.

Brazilian Navy Admiral Leonardo Puntel said that the navy sent out an emergency response team immediately when they heard a call that the vessel was in trouble.

He said an airplane was sent out, along with two frigates and another navy vessel. Three merchant vessels were also sent out to search for survivors, and they managed to find the life rafts first.

Puntel said that there were only two minor injuries among the survivors.

"They were in good condition after they were rescued," he told CTV News Channel from Brazil.

The SV Concordia, of the West Island College Class Afloat program in Montreal, was travelling from Recife, Brazil, to Montevideo, Uruguay, as part of a 10-month journey. The ship sails out of Lunenburg, N.S.

"All crew and passengers have been recovered and are uninjured. This is good news," said Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon in a statement Friday morning.

"I thank Brazilian authorities who led a search and rescue operation and acted swiftly to assist the ship and its passengers."

Edgardo Ybranez, who is captain of a Philippine flagged cargo ship, spoke to The Associated Press and told them that the rescue occurred in dangerous seas. His ship picked up 44 people and the rest were picked up by two other ships.

"You can tell their parents that everything is OK; everybody aboard my ship is fine," he said via satellite phone.

However, when he declined to put any of the survivors on the phone, saying: "They are all downstairs sleeping because they are exhausted, so I don't want to call any of them up."

Bob Stapells, whose cousin Kirstin Lind was onboard the ship, told CTV Atlantic that the family is feeling a "great deal of relief right now. It was quite painful for a few hours, obviously."

Brazilian navy received emergency signal

A news release from the Brazilian navy said it was asked to send a plane to investigate an emergency signal at about 5 p.m. local time on Thursday. At about 8 p.m., the crew on the plane spotted a life raft with people on board in the area where the signal had originated.

The navy then sent its own ship to the area, and asked three nearby merchant ships to meet the life raft. They arrived and were able to rescue all 64 people from four life rafts.

According to a statement from Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs, Canadian diplomatic personnel are currently working with their Brazilian counterparts to "monitor and assist with the situation."

Class Afloat offers an accredited high school and college program based aboard the Concordia. The ship is operated by the West Island College but is registered in Barbados, and therefore is required to comply with Barbados' laws.

According to a Google map tracking the ship's progress on Class Afloat's website, the Concordia was south of Rio and east of Sao Paulo on Feb. 17, sailing in moderate to rough seas with clear skies. That is the last point of reference on the map.

That position put the ship 13,092 nautical miles from Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, the port of departure.

Defence Minister Peter MacKay hailed the Brazilian response and expressed "profound gratitude" for the rescue operation.

"It's a very good news story," he told CTV Atlantic during an interview in New Glasgow, N.S.

"A tragedy was averted by the quick action and the dedicated service of the search and rescue of the Brazilian defence ministry."

Friends and relatives in Canada seeking information on Canadian citizens believed to be on the SV Concordia can contact Foreign Affairs' Emergency Operations Centre in Ottawa by calling either 1-800-387-3124 or 1-613-996-8885.