Spanish court extends investigation into deadly fishing vessel mishap off Newfoundland

The Spanish National Court has ordered an extension of the investigation into an incident wherein a fishing vessel was lost along with 21 of its crew off Canada's eastern coast three years prior.

The court ordered the extension of the investigation into the sinking of the trawler Villa de Pitanxo as the report to be published by the Permanent Commission for the Investigation of Maritime Accidents and Incidents (Comisión Permanente de Investigación de Accidentes e Incidentes Marítimos; CIAIM) has not yet been submitted.

The prosecutors in the case approved of the extension as they believe it would allow for "a greater clarification of the facts" surrounding the tragedy.

However, the families of the 21 deceased crewmembers insisted that an extension just to accommodate the CIAIM report was no longer necessary, since they claim that an expert's report that had been submitted earlier already established the captain's negligence as one of the main causes of the incident.

Villa de Pitanxo was approximately 450 kilometres off Newfoundland when it sank in rough seas shortly after 01:00 local time on February 15, 2022.

The 24-strong crew of the ill-fated vessel included Spanish, Peruvian, and Ghanaian nationals. Only three of the crew survived the incident while four are confirmed dead and the remainder went missing and have not been found to this day.