The wreck of Spanish fishing trawler Villa de Pitanxo that sunk off the Canadian coast in February last year claiming 21 lives has been found, officials have confirmed.
Described as Spain’s worst fishing tragedy in nearly 40 years, Villa de Pitanxo went down in waters off Newfoundland with 24 people going overboard. Rescuers found three survivors in a lifeboat suffering from severe hypothermia and recovered nine bodies but the remains of the other 12 crew were never found.
In a statement issued on 5 June 2023, Spain’s Ministry of Transport said: “The wreck of the Villa de Pitanxo was found in the area where all the evidence suggested that it was, very close to the location where the ship’s automatic identification system (AIS) issued its last signals.”
The ministry advised that film taken of the wreck will be incorporated into the CIAIM (Commission for the Investigation of Maritime Accidents and Incidents) investigation file.
This, it said, will be examined and taken into account in the conclusions of the report.
The report will be finalised and published by CIAIM as soon as possible, it added.
