Tag Archives: Lt.-Cmdr. Brian Owens

F/V Villa De Pitano: ‘Please keep looking’, families beg as hunt for Spanish shipwreck crew ends

“We have to keep looking for the bodies, we can’t leave 12 people stranded in the sea,” said John Okutu, uncle of Edemon Okutu, one of the crew members from Ghana who is among the missing. “If Canada can’t keep on looking, the Spanish must go, that’s what the families want,” he told journalists in Marín in the northwestern region of Galicia where the vessel was based. Standing at his side, Kevin Franco, the son of Regelio Franco, one of the missing Peruvians, agreed. >click to read< 09:15

Newfoundland: Search suspended for missing crew members of F/V Villa De Pitano

After a 36-hour search of the frigid North Atlantic waters, the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre and the Canadian Armed Forces have suspended their search for the missing crew members who were onboard the sunken Spanish fishing vessel. “This is the end of an active search,” said Lt.-Cmdr. Brian Owens, a spokesman for the Halifax Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre via Zoom. “All vessels, all aircraft that were participating in this search and rescue have been returned to home base. The 24-member crew included 16 members from Spain, five from Peru, and three from Ghan. They were fishing in international waters, some 460 kilometres east of St. John’s, N.L. >click to read< 19:01

Mourning in Galicia following the loss of a trawler off Newfoundland: ten dead and eleven missing

The Xunta of Galicia, the government of the northeast of Spain will declare a day of mourning in the region following the sinking of the trawler F/V Villa de Pitanxo off Newfoundland, with the loss of ten lives and another eleven who remain missing. The tragedy occurred on Tuesday in the midst of a North Atlantic storm, and despite a huge rescue effort only three out of 24 crew members managed to survive under hypothermal conditions. Search operations are ongoing. Marine resources include three fishing vessels, an offshore supply ship, a coast guard vessel, and a Canadian navy frigate. Air resources include three helicopters rotating in and out depending on crew and fuel needs, two Hercules aircraft, and one PAL aircraft. >click to read< 07:59

Search continues off N.L. coast for 11 missing crew members of Spanish fishing vessel – Lt.-Cmdr. Brian Owens of the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifax told CBC News on Wednesday morning the search and rescue effort is ongoing. >click to read<12:46

FV Tyhawk: Missing fisherman’s brother says he drowned trying to save others

As Derek Sock raced to his brother’s sinking fishing boat on Saturday, Craig Sock was fighting to save his shipmates in the frigid waters 16 nautical miles off the coast of Nova Scotia. The Tyhawk was making its second run of the day to set lobster traps when it began to take on water. As the crew tried to ready the life raft, the Tyhawk suddenly capsized, trapping Jumbo, as Craig Sock of Elsipogtog First Nation was known, and another man in the wheelhouse. Jumbo managed to toss that man out a window and both men surfaced. Derek said his brother lost his life trying to save his crew mate. >click to read< 07:57

F.V. Atlantic Destiny sank late Wednesday morning – 31 crew members rescued by Canadian and USCG helicopters

The Atlantic Destiny ran into trouble after a fire broke out around 8 p.m. Tuesday, possibly in the engine room, The fire knocked out the vessel’s power and then the ship started taking on water. The captain and three crew members remained on board initially, while the other 27 were lifted off the ship one-by-one. “This was one of the craziest rescues that I’ve been a part of, for the situation and how many hoisted we had to do and how  challenging it was trying to calm the aircraft to go get the survivors picked up,” said Phillip Morales, USCG.  >click to read< 13:43

Video, U.S., Canadian, Coast Guards, Royal Canadian Air Force, rescue 31 fishermen from sinking vessel>click to watch <