They are calling for a resumption of the search for their relatives: The families of 12 people missing after a fishing trawler sank off Newfoundland have signed a petition in Spain. They gathered in the north-west of the country at the port of Marin, where the trawler was based.

Less chance of survival in ice cold water

The Spanish ship sank off the east coast of Canada in mid-February. Of the 24 sailors on board, only three could be saved from severe hypothermia. Nine crew members died.

The search for the rest of the crew was stopped a few days ago. Due to the region’s extremely cold waters and stormy seas, there was little hope of survivors.

It was initially unknown why the 50-metre-long deep-sea trawler went off Galicia in north-west Spain. Experts did not rule out that heavy seas may have slammed the cargo and caused the ship to sink, as the newspaper “La Voz de Galicia” reported.

The 16 crew members were said to be Spanish, five Peruvian and three Ghanaian. Two of the survivors are Spaniards and one Ghanaian.