Relatives of the crew of the trawler Villa de Pitanxosunk in Canadian waters on Tuesday, they have requested this Wednesday in Vigo continue the search for the missing and let them address responsibilities behind the shipwreck in full storm of this ship, based in Marín (Pontevedra).
Kevin González, son of Fernando, a 53-year-old from Moañés, has said in statements to the press that the rescue device must continue with the work “until it can no longer”.
This has been the request of Kevin, who is still waiting for news from his father, and who has also requested an investigation into what has happened to this freezer trawler in the North Atlantic, “Not for revenge, so that it doesn’t happen again.”
Pablo More has spoken in the same way, as his family is one of the hardest hit by the tragedy, since he has lost his brother Daniel, who was enrolled with his nephews Diego and Edwin.
The shipowner, Grupo Nores, has informed them that the bodies of Daniel and Diego, or Dieguito as he was known in his inner circle, are two of those recovered, while nothing is known about Edwin.
Daniel leaves a wife and two children aged 18 and 9. Edwin has four.
Pablo lamented that despite the bad weather conditions, which they learned from their relatives, the crew had to get to work, while other boats dedicated to the halibut fishery, such as the Villa de Pitanxo, were waiting for the weather in the area to get better.
“There are boats that were waiting for it to subside so they could work,” Pablo has declared, and has dropped that it was not the first time that they had orders not to make a stoppage despite being very hostile conditions.
The result, “so many families in mourning”, this family has complained.
The Great Bank of Newfoundland is considered one of the toughest fishing grounds in the world, due to the climate and the deep waters.
Canada announced this Wednesday the cancellation of the search.
The notification of the end of the location and rescue operations has come shortly after the Rescue Coordination Center confirmed that the final number of recovered bodies is nine and not ten as initially reported.
The error was the result of a confusion during communication with one of the Portuguese fishing boats that participated in the rescue tasks.
Following clarification from the Canadian authorities, the number of fishermen rescued alive is three while the bodies recovered are nine. Twelve other people are still missing.
The three survivors are the ship’s skipper, Juan Padín; his nephew, Eduardo Rial; and a sailor from Ghana, Samuel Kwesi.
The three are in the fishing boat Playa de Menduíña 2, which also recovered six bodies. Another body is found in the Portuguese fishing boat Novo Virgem da Barca and the two remaining dead have been picked up by the Canadian ship Nexus.