Berliner Boersenzeitung - Spain mourns worst fishing tragedy in 40 years

EUR -
AED 3.824989
AFN 71.402285
ALL 97.627614
AMD 406.436125
ANG 1.885525
AOA 951.312422
ARS 1045.555022
AUD 1.601982
AWG 1.877095
AZN 1.792548
BAM 1.944948
BBD 2.112314
BDT 125.022417
BGN 1.95415
BHD 0.392523
BIF 3090.415867
BMD 1.041384
BND 1.405883
BOB 7.228735
BRL 6.044613
BSD 1.046163
BTN 88.392
BWP 14.28265
BYN 3.423796
BYR 20411.134706
BZD 2.108833
CAD 1.457595
CDF 2988.773459
CHF 0.925666
CLF 0.036821
CLP 1015.74547
CNY 7.547747
CNH 7.560467
COP 4570.896582
CRC 531.832553
CUC 1.041384
CUP 27.596687
CVE 109.654219
CZK 25.355594
DJF 186.300506
DKK 7.457947
DOP 63.038268
DZD 139.856872
EGP 51.722338
ERN 15.620766
ETB 130.374134
FJD 2.369514
FKP 0.821982
GBP 0.832337
GEL 2.83779
GGP 0.821982
GHS 16.634346
GIP 0.821982
GMD 73.938043
GNF 9017.770456
GTQ 8.076016
GYD 218.88082
HKD 8.106803
HNL 26.437866
HRK 7.428465
HTG 137.356236
HUF 410.848543
IDR 16577.798642
ILS 3.868967
IMP 0.821982
INR 87.938151
IQD 1370.572407
IRR 43847.491348
ISK 145.460334
JEP 0.821982
JMD 166.150118
JOD 0.73844
JPY 160.751742
KES 134.855838
KGS 90.075475
KHR 4219.537432
KMF 489.086083
KPW 937.245587
KRW 1464.275008
KWD 0.320534
KYD 0.871848
KZT 518.822617
LAK 22916.13564
LBP 93689.742622
LKR 304.391597
LRD 188.840865
LSL 18.930456
LTL 3.074937
LVL 0.629923
LYD 5.110485
MAD 10.46312
MDL 19.050703
MGA 4898.784029
MKD 61.522855
MMK 3382.375986
MNT 3538.624216
MOP 8.387422
MRU 41.607245
MUR 48.78866
MVR 16.089607
MWK 1814.121361
MXN 21.290157
MYR 4.652385
MZN 66.542097
NAD 18.930547
NGN 1761.064649
NIO 38.291823
NOK 11.553218
NPR 141.426922
NZD 1.783773
OMR 0.400907
PAB 1.046163
PEN 3.973927
PGK 4.211541
PHP 61.381801
PKR 290.794744
PLN 4.336537
PYG 8211.184342
QAR 3.814254
RON 4.975319
RSD 117.003721
RUB 107.225744
RWF 1437.513665
SAR 3.909599
SBD 8.715887
SCR 14.183524
SDG 626.39872
SEK 11.548105
SGD 1.403286
SHP 0.821982
SLE 23.519696
SLL 21837.315606
SOS 597.889811
SRD 36.870228
STD 21554.555025
SVC 9.154055
SYP 2616.509459
SZL 18.938783
THB 35.940782
TJS 11.142091
TMT 3.655259
TND 3.309764
TOP 2.439029
TRY 35.987528
TTD 7.101478
TWD 33.93278
TZS 2767.332256
UAH 43.193134
UGX 3865.469096
USD 1.041384
UYU 44.582103
UZS 13386.996842
VES 48.187714
VND 26482.405897
VUV 123.635251
WST 2.907119
XAF 652.332861
XAG 0.033321
XAU 0.000386
XCD 2.814394
XDR 0.798066
XOF 652.317288
XPF 119.331742
YER 260.243298
ZAR 18.792105
ZMK 9373.707307
ZMW 28.849032
ZWL 335.32536
  • RYCEF

    0.1800

    6.79

    +2.65%

  • RBGPF

    59.6900

    59.69

    +100%

  • GSK

    0.3500

    33.7

    +1.04%

  • BTI

    -0.1000

    36.98

    -0.27%

  • VOD

    -0.1000

    8.84

    -1.13%

  • AZN

    1.0600

    64.26

    +1.65%

  • CMSC

    0.1200

    24.64

    +0.49%

  • BP

    0.4400

    29.52

    +1.49%

  • NGG

    -0.1700

    63.1

    -0.27%

  • RIO

    0.1800

    62.57

    +0.29%

  • RELX

    0.6500

    45.76

    +1.42%

  • CMSD

    0.1850

    24.445

    +0.76%

  • BCC

    2.9500

    140.36

    +2.1%

  • JRI

    0.0000

    13.23

    0%

  • SCS

    -0.0300

    13.04

    -0.23%

  • BCE

    -0.3200

    26.68

    -1.2%

Spain mourns worst fishing tragedy in 40 years
Spain mourns worst fishing tragedy in 40 years

Spain mourns worst fishing tragedy in 40 years

Spain was in mourning Wednesday for its worst fishing tragedy in almost 40 years, as Canadian rescuers warned it was unlikely they would find any of the missing 11 crew members alive.

Text size:

Search teams have so far confirmed 10 dead, rescued three survivors from a life raft, and the search continues for those unaccounted for.

"Once again the people of the sea have been hit very hard," said Alberto Nunez Feijoo, head of Spain's northwestern Galicia region where the boat was based.

"Galicia is a big family and when a family is struck by a tragic event, it unites in grief to seek comfort," he said in announcing three days of mourning for the victims.

In Madrid, lawmakers observed a minute of silence in parliament for the dead and the missing from the trawler, which went down some 250 nautical miles (463 kilometres) east of Newfoundland, leaving just three confirmed survivors.

Of the 24 crew members, 16 were Spanish, five Peruvians and three Ghanaians.

Luis Planas, Spain's agriculture and fisheries minister, described it as "the biggest tragedy in the fishing sector in the last 38 years" -- a reference to the Islamar III, a sardine boat that sank off the Canary Islands in July 1984, claiming 26 lives.

"This is a job which not only is very hard but is also very dangerous," he added.

Planas said eight vessels, among them Spanish and Portuguese fishing boats, had joined the search for survivors from the Villa de Pitanxo, after the 50-metre (164-foot) fishing vessel sent out a distress signal at 0424 GMT on Tuesday.

- Challenging weather -

By Wednesday morning, hopes of finding the 11 missing crew members were fading.

"Although we still hope to find survivors alive, it is now unlikely that other survivors will be found," Canadian military Lieutenant Nicolas Plourde-Fleury told AFP in an email, adding that the search continued.

"We are talking about a rescue.. in extremely difficult sea conditions, with water temperatures that mean as soon as a person falls in they won't last long," said the Galician leader Feijoo.

Writing on Twitter, Spain's sea rescue service said rescuers were battling very rough seas with "6-7 metre high waves" that were "complicating the search operation and making visibility difficult".

It was not immediately clear what caused the boat to founder.

Planas said it was operating in a fishing ground "of immense value but which also has very significant climatological problems".

Among the survivors was the ship's captain, Juan Padín Costa and his nephew Eduardo Rial Padin, whose mother expressed her relief in remarks to Spain's public television.

"I am relieved because he is alive, thank God, but sad because that can't be said for many of his colleagues," said Gloria Padin Costas.

So far, there has been no information publicly released about the victims or those still missing at sea.

"Although we may not be able to find survivors, it is very important for the families to collect the bodies," the head of the Shipowner's Cooperative in the northwestern Spanish city of Vigo, Javier Touza, told TV station Antena 3.

- 'Survival a matter of minutes' -

Back in Galicia, families of the crew were desperately awaiting news about their loved ones.

"We just want to know if he is dead or alive," Carlos Ordonez told La Voz de Galicia newspaper, referring to his nephew William Arevalo.

"We already know what happens when you fall into waters like those around Newfoundland. Survival is a matter of minutes."

The survivors were found on a life raft by a Spanish fishing boat five hours after the Villa de Pitanxo sent out a distress call.

Suffering from hypothermia, they were airlifted to safety by a Canadian helicopter.

"No one is emotionally prepared to receive such shocking news," said Galician leader Feijoo, vowing "to honour those who lost their lives at sea".

(T.Burkhard--BBZ)