The wrecked fishing boat in Newfoundland had a history of penalties for illegal fishing

• Tragedy A "sudden stoppage of the engine", cause of the shipwreck of the 'Villa de Pitanxo'

• Shipwreck The double tragedy of the surviving patron of the 'Villa de Pitanxo'

The Galician fishing vessel

, which capsized in Canadian waters on February 15, had a history of

for serious infractions of the Maritime Fisheries Law which, in at least two cases, were confirmed by the National audience.

The ship, belonging to the

company , based in the Pontevedra town of Marín, sank 250 miles off the coast of Newfoundland with 24 crew members, of whom

Nine bodies were recovered and repatriated to Spain and Peru while another 12 remain missing.

The last known sentence, to which EL MUNDO has had access, dates from July 17, 2020,

, from the year 2016. The Contentious Chamber of the National High Court partially dismisses an appeal from the shipowner before the General State Administration and confirms sanctions against the ship's master and the

in Greenland halibut fishing.

The resolution partially confirms a previous sentence of the Central Contentious-Administrative Court number 8 of Madrid and resolutions of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food and Environment of 2017 that imposed the skipper of the 'Villa Pitanxo'

as responsible for many other serious violations of the State Maritime Fisheries Law.

This sentence confirms a fine of 60,000 euros for an infraction of

that could be obtained in the course of control and inspection tasks or procedures, another fine of 40,000 euros for failure to send positions and a third of 40,000 euros for not recording hidden halibut catches in the logbook.

In addition, for this last sanction, he is sentenced to the

delivered to a charity.

According to the sentence, the inspectors verified the existence of a hidden warehouse where the catches of Greenland halibut were bagged and unlabeled, totaling 26,788 kilos.

In addition to sanctioning the skipper, the

and was given a loss of points that boat owners have in the European fishing control regulation.

In the National Court there is a previous sentence, of October 11, 2017, advanced by Digital Economy Galicia and to which this newspaper has had access.

It refers to sanctions

detected in 2013 for unreported Greenland halibut fishing.

The Contentious Chamber of the National High Court dismisses an appeal filed by the fisherman and

of the Central Contentious-Administrative Court number 11 and resolutions of the Technical Secretary General and the General Director of Fishing Resources and Aquaculture.

Between February 10 and March 8, 2013, an inspection was carried out in the 'Villa de Pitanxo' and confirmed

two rows of Greenland halibut boxes to pass them off as catches of skates and an "infraction of obstruction to the inspection work", for the concealment of boxes of halibut and for the extraction for sale without authorization before it was concluded.

The inspection also detected that during the unloading process there were

, such that the inspector who is at the weighbridge observes two rows of boxes of Greenland halibut interspersed between the rows of boxes of line and the sentence concludes that the "intention to hide the boxes that contained fishing of the species that exceeded the established limits" is clear.

DECEASED SAILORS

The judicial lawyer of the Court of Instance number 2 of Vigo has signed this Tuesday, March 1, the

who are still missing.

This is a civil procedure initiated at the request of the Pontevedra Prosecutor's Office in a Vigo court as it was the ship's port of departure on January 26.

Article 194 of the Civil Code indicates that the declaration of death of those sailors of whom there is no news after it is proven that they were on board a ship whose shipwreck or

has been proven or aboard an aircraft whose accident has been verified, or, in the event that human remains have been found in such cases, and they could not have been identified, after eight days have elapsed

Conforms to The Trust Project criteria

Know more

• Pontevedra

• Canada

Tragedy in NewfoundlandA "sudden stop of the engine", cause of the sinking of the 'Villa de Pitanxo'

Tragedy in Newfoundland Solemn return to Spain of the survivors and the bodies of five of those who died in the shipwreck of the 'Villa de Pitanxo'

Tragedy in NewfoundlandSamuel Kwesi, from stowaway to Spain to survivor of the 'Villa de Pitanxo'

See links of interest

• Last News

• Translator

• Topics

• Work calendar 2022

• How to do

• events

• Best schools Spain