Crew members from the Spanish fleet which operates with Falkland Islands licenses met on Monday in the capital Stanley for a poignant ceremony to honor their fellow mariners who went down with the fishing vessel Villa de Pitanxo, off Newfoundland.
Spain's Fisheries Minister Luis Planas has called the sinking of the “Villa de Pitanxo“ off the coast of Canada the ”worst tragedy for our fishing fleet in 38 years”. At least nine sailors have died and a dozen remain missing after the vessel fishing for black halibut sank on Monday night early Tuesday some 450 kilometers from Newfoundland.
Canada's naval authorities have stopped searching for survivors of the Spanish fishing trawler “Villa de Pitanxo” which sank abruptly off Newfoundland Tuesday, it was announced.
The Xunta of Galicia, the government of the northeast of Spain will declare a day of mourning in the region following the sinking of the trawler Villa de Pitanxo, off Newfoundland, with the loss of ten lives and another eleven who remain missing. The tragedy occurred on Tuesday in the midst of a North Atlantic storm, and despite a huge rescue effort only three out of 24 crew members managed to survive under hypothermal conditions.