The ship is sunk and the three survivors are in a state of 'shock', so they have not been able to provide a complete account of what happened, but the families of the nine dead and twelve missing from Villa de Pitanxo need a response that, for the moment does not exist; not, at least, that they are categorical, although yesterday the experts were already beginning to give some of the keys to the tragedy. The main reason is that the trawler, 50 meters long and ten meters wide, received a strong blow from the sea that either disabled its electrical system, leaving it adrift, or caused a fatal displacement of the cargo that led to the shipwreck. .
The fish, based in Marin and which sailed from Vigo on January 26, was left with the keel in the sun in a few minutes, at a time, moreover, when practically the entire crew was in the warehouses due to weather conditions - sub-zero temperatures and a strong wind – made it impossible to fish. We will still have to wait to know the details of the testimony of the survivors – the boss, Juan Padín; his nephew, the sailor Eduardo Rial Padín, and his companion Samuel Kwesi, of Ghanaian origin–, but many believe that it had something to do with it that they were on the bridge when the tragedy occurred.
Sara Prieto, girlfriend of Eduardo Rial Padín, abounded in the hypothesis of the blow of the sea that, according to what she said, was that she was shuffling among the sailors of Cangas de O Morrazo. The president of the Shipowners Guild, Javier Touza, weighed in several interviews yesterday, in which it is essential to know the causes of the shipwreck in order to take measures to prevent tragedies like this in the future, the most serious in decades for a fishing Galician. At least, there is no doubt that the ship was safe, had passed all the inspections and had all the certifications, according to the Ministry of Transport.
The statements of the survivors, who yesterday continued in 'shock', will still take hours, because the ship that rescued them, the Playa Menduiña Dos, remained in the area of the shipwreck until yesterday to collaborate in the search for more victims. The conditions in which these works are carried out are especially harsh, with waves of up to nine meters, temperatures of eight degrees below zero with a wind chill of minus 17, and winds of almost 60 kilometers per hour. At least the visibility had improved since the time of the wreck.
As in a macabre lottery, the relatives of the nine dead and twelve disappeared from Villa de Pitanxo waited yesterday, with indescribable anguish, for news about whether their loved one is among the first or among the second. There is, of course, no hope that they can be alive, but at least they hope to be able to bury their relative and be able to close the duel. The worst thing, moreover, is that in order to have that information, we will still have to wait several hours, because the bodies are on ships that are still participating in the rescue operation.
O Morrazo is a region of mourning; Furthermore, the whole of Galicia is and not only because the Xunta has decreed it for three days, in which the flags will fly at half-staff, but because it is palpable in the streets, in each bar, in each conversation. It has been decades since such a tragedy struck this community hardened by many shipwrecks and many lives lost at sea.
As you have already pointed out, the conditions in Newfoundland are probably impossible to think of the miracle of finding more survivors: the water is 4 degrees Celsius and many hours have passed since the shipwreck. Who more and who less does already to the idea of the inevitable.
The mayor of Marín, María Ramallo, is devastated: "I don't remember anything like it, this has been terrible, not only for the town, but for the entire region of O Morrazo," she explains to ABC. There are 24 families directly affected, but we cannot forget the anguish of all those who have their loved ones embarked in waters around the world, because the Nores Group is the largest shipowner in Spain and has ships fishing in many places”.
The City Council tries to give warmth to families in such delicate moments. Three of the victims were born in Marin. "But many sailors from Peru and Ghana have lived here for a long time and we consider them as much ours as the others." Cangas and Moaña are the other places of residence of the crew members.
What worries him most is the uncertainty: “And the bad thing is that it will still take a long time for the identifications. It is not worth a photograph, because any error in this matter would be devastating. And that Canada lowered the bodies recovered from ten to nine yesterday is a warning sign. Every minute weighs like a loss on the spirits of those directly affected. Also in O Morrazo, where its neighbors have always lived facing the sea.
