Six rescued as longliner sinks off Burela, Spain

Six fishermen were rescued from a vessel that sank off Spain’s Galicia region on Thursday, March 26.

The crew of the Celeiro-based longliner Pico da Lebre issued a distress call at around 15:25 local time saying that their vessel had suffered water ingress 24 kilometres off the Port of Burela.

Upon receiving the distress call, Spain’s Salvamento Maritimo national search and rescue (SAR) agency deployed the rescue boat Salvamar Alioth and a helicopter to the area and alerted nearby commercial vessels to render assistance to the distressed fishermen.

Pico da Lebre‘s entire crew of six were found afloat in a life raft and pulled from the water by the crew of another fishing vessel that had sailed to the area to assist.

Only the longliner’s bow remained visible above the surface by the time the fishermen were rescued.

The rescued sailors were brought to shore by 19:00 on Thursday. No injuries have been reported.

Local officials said that only the radio beacon and a few other small items have been recovered from the sunken longliner.