Five Missing in Catastrophic Trawler Collision off Mauritania

 

A collision between two fishing boats left five people missing off the coast of Mauritania last week, prompting a large-scale search. 

The Gambian-flagged Right Whale and the Mauritania-flagged Tafra 3 collided off the coast on Friday, in fine weather and calm surface conditions. A video obtained by Faro de Vigo and Voz de Galicia appears to show that Right Whale's bow hit Tafra 3 amidships on the starboard side; Tafra had trawl cables visibly trailing astern, indicating that she was engaged in fishing operations or working on gear over the side in the moments before impact.

After the collision, the two ships remained connected and Right Whale continued to push Tafra ahead for about two minutes. When Tafra finally drifted away, it became apparent that the smaller vessel had a wide-open tear in her hull all the way from the main deck level down. She listed further and further to starboard, then sank by the stern in about 50 meters of water. 

Spanish outlet Informacion reports that the vessel sank so fast that the crew could not deploy their rafts. Instead, they all donned lifejackets, and the rafts popped up later by hydrostatic release. 

21 survivors were rescued, including three Spanish nationals and at least one Russian citizen. One of the Spaniards sustained a head injury and required stitches. Five Mauritanian nationals remained missing, and SAR operations reportedly continued through the weekend.

The master and first officer of the Right Whale have reportedly been arrested, and a local investigation into the cause of the casualty is under way.