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Canada definitively suspends the search for the 12 missing crew members of the 'Villa de Pitanxo'

2022-02-16T22:19:33.828Z


The authorities assure that they have prolonged the rescue beyond the time indicated by the survival tables after the shipwreck of the Galician ship in the North Atlantic, in the waters of Newfoundland


About 39 hours after the Villa de Pitanxo

signal was lost

In the waters of Newfoundland (Canada), a freezer ship of 50 meters in length that was shipwrecked 450 kilometers southeast of the Canadian island on Tuesday with 24 crew members on board, the authorities of the North American country have definitively suspended this Wednesday the tasks of search and rescue of the 12 missing from the Galician fishing boat, from which three people were rescued and nine bodies were found.

Javier Touza, president of the Cooperative of Fisheries Owners of the Port of Vigo (ARVI), to which the sunken ship belongs, explained to this newspaper that the Halifax Rescue Coordination Center in Canada will not continue with the searches due to the bad weather in the area, with temperatures of up to minus seven degrees —and a higher thermal sensation—, seven-meter waves and icy water:

“It is very bad news because the logistical support that their helicopters, their planes, their fleet were giving us, was very important in these circumstances.

They allege the difficulties of working in these conditions of bad weather and poor visibility.

Our trawlers continue to track down any slight trace, though I don't know for how long.

I want to convey to the families absolute support.”

Touza refers to the fishing boats that belong to the Vigo shipowners' cooperative that this Wednesday have approached the area, among which is the

Playa Menduiña Dos

, where the three rescued from a life raft on Tuesday in the middle of the crisis of hypothermia.

Both this ship and the others that belong to ARVI are still in the area looking for the bodies of the crew members, but the chances of finding them are minimal.

The Canadian authorities themselves have confirmed shortly after that they are abandoning the tracking work on Twitter.

“Sadly, at four in the afternoon, due to the results of Canada's exhaustive search of aircraft and vessels for more than 36 hours, the search for the 12 missing sailors from the

Villa de Pitanxo

has been suspended.

Our thoughts and sincere condolences go out to the families, friends and the fishing community.

The case will now be handed over to the police as a case of missing persons at sea”, the Halifax Rescue Coordination Center itself wrote in two messages on this social network.

Regrettably, at 4 pm AST, based on the results of the exhaustive search by a significant number of SAR aircraft and vessels over the last 36+ hours, a search covering over 900 sq NM, the search for the 12 missing fishers aboard the FV Villa de Pitanxo has been suspended.

– HfxJRCC_CCCOS (@hfxjrcc) February 16, 2022

The Canadian authorities have prolonged the search and rescue efforts beyond the time indicated by the survival tables in the conditions that exist in the waters of the Great Bank of Newfoundland and that indicate that after 24 hours there are no real options to find the fishermen alive.

The notification of the end of search and rescue operations comes shortly after the Rescue Coordination Center confirmed that the final number of recovered bodies is nine and not 10 as initially reported.

The error is the result of a confusion during communication with one of the Portuguese fishing boats that participated in the rescue tasks.

After clarification from the Canadian authorities, the number of fishermen rescued alive is three while the bodies recovered are nine and the number of missing is 12.

The three survivors are the ship's skipper, Juan Padín;

his nephew Eduardo Rial;

and a sailor from Ghana, Samuel Kwesi Koufi.

The three travel on the Spanish fishing boat

Playa de Menduíña Dos

, which also recovered six bodies.

Another body is found on the Portuguese fishing vessel

Novo Virgem da Barca

and the two remaining dead have been picked up by the Canadian vessel

Nexus

.

Source: elparis

All news articles on 2022-02-16

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