Tragedy off Spanish coast: two dead and one missing after shipwreck

by Lorraine Williamson
shipwreck

A tragedy unfolded off the coast of Santander on Monday morning. Ten people on board the ship Villaboa 1 have been shipwrecked. Two people have died, seven have been rescued and one man from Peru is still being sought. 

A total of ten people from Spain, Senegal, Ghana and Peru were on board. One of the deceased crew members is a man from Santander. The other deceased person is from Ghana. A third man from Peru is currently still missing. This is reported by the regional government of Cantabria. 

Ten people on board, two people died, one injured and one missing 

On board were seven other crew members who ended up in the sea after the shipwreck. These seven were rescued from the sea this morning. This happened about 10 kilometres off the coast of Cabo Mayor (Santander). One of those rescued is seriously injured. The regional director of Cantabria, Miguel Ángel Revilla, expressed his support for all concerned through his Twitter account on Monday morning. “Rest in peace,” he concluded. 

Cogesa Expats

In his message, the regional manager referred to another violent shipwreck, more than a year after the last violent shipwreck involving the Spanish fishing boat from Galicia. This took place in February 2022 off the coast of Canada where at least ten people died. 

Status of shipwreck Cantabrian fishing boat 

The accident of the ship, the Villaboa 1, took place this morning around 5.00 am. It is not yet known why the ship started sinking at 4.10 am. Sources from the fishermen’s guild indicate they do not understand what happened. There were no fishing activities at the time of the sinking and the sea was relatively calm. 

At the moment everything is being done to find the missing crew member at sea and from the air. This operation is led by Salvamento Marítimo in collaboration with Cantabrian rescue services and the Guardia Civil. 

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