Four dead and 17 missing as Spanish trawler sinks off Canada

Rescuers hope more survivors will be found after accident off Canada's eastern coast

The Spanish 'Villa de Pitanxo' trawler. Agriculture, Fishery and Food Ministry / AP

At least four fishermen died and 17 were missing after a Spanish trawler sank in rough waters off eastern Canada on Tuesday, Spanish and Canadian officials said.

Rescuers saved three crew members after the boat went down about 460 kilometres east of Newfoundland, Canada's Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre said.

The Spanish Transport Ministry said there were 24 crew members on board the vessel — 16 Spanish nationals, five Peruvians and three from Ghana.

The Villa de Pitanxo, a 50-metre fishing vessel that is based in Spain's north-western Galicia region, sent out two distress calls that were received at 5.24am in Madrid, the ministry said.

Hours later, another Spanish fishing vessel that was in the area saw two life rafts, one of which was carrying three survivors and several bodies, it said.

"In one, there were just three survivors who were in a state of hypothermic shock because the temperature of the water is horrible, very low," said Maica Larriba, a representative of Spain's central government in the Galicia region.

Ms Larriba said the survivors had been flown to safety by a Canadian coastguard helicopter and that rescuers had found two other life rafts that were "totally empty", while searching for a third.

Canadian rescuers said they hoped more survivors could be found.

"The fact that we have already found three survivors in a life raft gives us that hope that others were able to either get into their survival suits, get into life rafts and get off the vessel," Brian Owens of the Canadian rescue centre said.

Canadian rescuers had sent a helicopter, a military plane, a coastguard ship and several boats to search for the missing crew members, Mr Owens said.

"The weather right now is challenging for the search. It's approximately four-metre waves and visibility is down to approximately one quarter nautical mile," he said.

Some of the 100,000 dead blue merlus that were thrown into the sea, off the coast of La Rochelle in western France, on February 3 by Dutch-owned trawler 'FV Margiris'. All photos by Sea Shephard via AFP

'FV Margiris' – the world's second-biggest fishing vessel – shed the dead fish into the Atlantic Ocean, forming a floating carpet of carcasses.

France’s maritime minister, Annick Girardin, called the images 'shocking'.

The spill happened early on Thursday. A full investigation is expected.

It was not immediately clear what caused the boat to founder.

"We certainly could be talking about one of the saddest days for Galician fishing in its entire history," said Javier Touza, head of the Shipowner's Co-operative in the north-western Spanish city of Vigo.

The Villa de Pitanxo is a freezer trawler registered in 2004 that is based in Marin, a small port near Pontevedra, and belongs to shipowner Manuel Nores.

Founded in 1950, the company has eight freezer trawlers and about 300 employees, with vessels operating off the Canadian coast, in the South Atlantic and off the western coast of Africa, its website says.

"We are following with concern the search and rescue operation for the crew of the Galician ship that sunk in the waters of Newfoundland," Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez tweeted.

"All my love to their families. The government remains in constant contact with rescue services."

Labour Minister Yolanda Diaz, who is from Galicia, said she was "shocked" by the news of the accident.

"Bad news is reaching us from the other side of the Atlantic," Ms Diaz tweeted. "All my love and support to the families of the crew in their pain at this time of uncertainty."