Seven Fishermen Rescued From Listing Vessel off A Coruña

Seven fishermen from a stricken vessel were rescued by good Samaritans off the coast of A Coruña on Monday, according to Spanish SAR agency Salvamento Maritimo.

At about 1050 hours on Monday morning, the agency’s rescue center in A Coruña received a distress call on VHF from a fishing vessel, the Abra de Muxia. The crew reported that they had just rescued seven people from another fishing vessel, the Itoitz, which had taken on a severe list.

Given the situation aboard, the master of Itoitz had ordered the crew to abandon ship into the liferaft, and the Abra picked them up shortly thereafter.

A Spanish rescue helicopter rendezvoused with the Abra and medevaced all seven crewmembers, delivering them to shore at A Coruña’s local airport. No injuries were reported. (Mid-evacuation, though, the same helicopter stopped to pick up another fisherman who had suffered a head injury on a different vessel, per local media.)

After the evacuation, suffocate remained afloat, though with a pronounced list. The Salvamento Maritimo had a SAR lifeboat maintain watch on scene for navigational safety, as the vessel continued to drift north of Cape Ortegal, making about two knots on a northeasterly course.

A tug has been chartered for a towing attempt, owner Javier Sar Romero told La Voz de Galicia. However, the forecast is not favorable for the coming days, with winds of 30-plus knots and waves of 15-plus feet expected, and the swell has prevented access.