First modification:
The Canadian Army stated that it is very difficult to find alive any of the 11 crew members who remain missing due to the sinking of the fishing vessel ‘Villa de Pitanxo’ in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean, where three were found alive and another ten died.
Last Tuesday a Spanish fishing boat sank in the sea off the city of Newfoundland due to difficulties in navigating the Eastern Atlantic Ocean and its rough waters.
The crew was made up of 16 Spaniards, five Peruvians and three workers from Ghana, according to the Spanish maritime rescue service. Of them, three – including the captain – were found alive, while another ten were found dead.
Although the search efforts continued this Wednesday, February 16 to find the remaining 11 missing persons, the Canadian Army stated that it will be very difficult to find them alive at this point.
The 50-meter fishing vessel called ‘Villa de Pitanxo’, which was operating in the region of Galicia – northwestern Spain – sank in the dark in very low temperatures 460 kilometers east of Newfoundland.
The Halifax Joint Rescue Coordination Center reported the recovery of three other dead bodies, reaching ten. “Our thoughts are with all the families of this crew,” they said through their Twitter account.
The rescue center operating in Halifax, which is operated by the Canadian Air Force and Coast Guard, sent helicopters, planes and a boat to comb the area of the sinking with the aim of rescuing the remaining crew members.
The search continues with 1 plane, 2 helicopters, 1 frigate, 1 Canadian-flagged vessel, 1 Spanish fishing vessel and 2 Portuguese fishing vessels. In total, 3 survivors have been rescued, the bodies of 10 people and 11 are missing. Coordinate @hfxjrcc with the collaboration @salvamentogob pic.twitter.com/Q3QLTY0O5H
— MARITIME RESCUE (@salvamentogob) February 16, 2022
In addition, eight other vessels, a fleet made up of Canadian rescue units, Spanish and Portuguese fishing boats and a C-130 Hercules plane are committed to the search for survivors, reported the Spanish Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Luis Planas.
Planas himself stated that the fishing boat was “modern” and was able to withstand the difficult climate of the area. He also called the event “the worst tragedy for our fishing fleet in 38 years.”
Weather conditions hampered rescue exercises on Wednesday after the region experienced 85 kph winds, 6-meter visibility and around 10-meter waves.
In the first hours of the capsizing, another Spanish fishing boat working near the site found three survivors and six bodies in lifeboats.
Juan Padín -captain of the ship-, his nephew Eduardo Rial and a Ghanaian sailor -whose name has not been revealed- are the survivors, according to the EFE news agency. All three are stable, but with symptoms of hypothermia of different severity.
The search tasks are expected to continue on Thursday, but without the expectation of finding them alive. In Galicia, which has a strong fishing industry, three days of mourning were declared in honor of the deceased.
With EFE and AP