Spain calls on Canada to resume search for 12 fishers from sunken Spanish vessel

HALIFAX -

Spain's foreign minister says the search for 12 missing fishers who went down with their Spanish vessel in the icy waters of the North Atlantic Ocean this week should resume as soon as weather conditions permit.

Spanish minister Jose Manuel Albares took to Twitter on Thursday to thank his counterpart, Canada Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly, for the fact that rescue teams tracked down the Villa de Pitanxo, a 50-metre vessel that sank early Tuesday morning.

Albares said in Spanish that he asked Joly "to continue collaborating in the rescue of the missing sailors."

The operation to find the missing fishers was called off Wednesday afternoon as search and rescue teams dealt with strong winds and 10-metre-high seas.

Three men were rescued and the bodies of nine others were found at the debris site about 460 kilometres east of St. John's, N.L.

Lt.-Cmdr. Brian Owens of the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Halifax has said the case is under the jurisdiction of the RCMP as a missing persons at sea investigation.

The Newfoundland and Labrador RCMP say they don't have jurisdiction in the area where the vessel sank, adding that the investigation should fall to the country with which the Villa de Pitanxo is registered.

The RCMP said they were helping the chief medical examiner receive the bodies of victims, identify the remains and repatriate the fishers to Spain.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 18, 2022.

This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Facebook and Canadian Press News Fellowship.