Key takeaways:
- Twelve staff members stay unaccounted for.
- The Playa Menduina Dos reaches St. John’s harbor Saturday.
- The vessel is carrying the bodies of seven crew associates who died when a Spanish fishing vessel plunged off the coast of Newfoundland.
Bodies and survivors arrive in St. John’s on 2nd ship:
A ship bringing three survivors and the bodies of seven staff members from a Spanish fishing vessel that sloped off the coast of Newfoundland reached St. John’s on Saturday.
The Playa Menduina Dos cruised into St. John’s harbor Saturday morning, where the dead bodies were loaded off the vessel by crane and into awaiting hearses. Canadian customs officers were caught boarding the ship.
Before Tuesday morning, the Villa de Pitanxo fishing vessel dipped in heavy seas off the coast of Newfoundland. According to the Spanish newspaper La Voz de Galicia, the surviving crew associates are the ship’s 53-year-old captain and his 42-year-old nephew.
The three survivors were seen on a life raft in the water. The bodies of nine staff members were discovered after the ship plunged.
Of the 24 crew members, 12 were still missing when the search was canceled Thursday.
Read more: Climate sets records, washes out roads, and gets snow near N.L.
Stephen Waller, the acting provincial supervisor of marine search and rescue with JRCC Halifax, stated the investigation on Tuesday was hindered by the harsh climate and high surges.
Waller said the surviving crew members had hypothermia but did not need a medical alert.
Another ship, the Maersk Nexus, came on Friday in St. John’s bringing two dead crew members.
The reason for Tuesday’s accident has not been decided. The RCMP has said the research is beyond its jurisdiction. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has advised CBC News that Spain is liable for the catastrophe’s research.
Of the 24 staff, 16 were from Spain, five from Peru, and three from Ghana.
