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Tafra 3 Skipper Returns to Vigo as Mauritania Probes Deadly Right Whale Collision

The skipper describes a near-stationary trawler struck by a Gambian-flagged factory ship that sank within minutes.

Overview

  • Mauritanian judicial and technical investigations are ongoing, and the Right Whale’s captain is reported by survivors as retained by authorities.
  • Twenty-six people were aboard the Tafra 3; 21 were rescued and five Mauritanian crew members remain missing.
  • Both Spanish captains, Javier Gestido and José Manuel Diz, are back in Vigo with minor injuries after giving accounts of the crash.
  • Footage filmed from the Right Whale shows the factory vessel hitting the trawler’s starboard side and dragging it before the Tafra 3 went under in about five minutes.
  • The Right Whale is about 104–105 meters and sails under the Gambian flag with ownership links to Ocean Whale Company in Malta, while the Tafra 3 is Galician-capital through Baipesca and was operating off Nouadhibou.