Two crew members of the fishing vessel “Comillas Tercero” were rescued on Wednesday morning after a fire on board, north of Castro Urdiales in Cantabria. According to the Delegación del Gobierno en Cantabria coordinated the Centro de Coordinación de Salvamento Marítimo de Bilbao operation after receiving a distress call at 8.00 am. The vessel in distress was reportedly around seven nautical miles north-north-east of Punta Pescador. The men had abandoned the burning vessel in a liferaft.
The nearby fishing vessel “Lutxi” first took the two survivors on board at 8.13 am. Salvamento Marítimo dispatched the Salvamar Alcyone and the helicopter Helimer 206 to the scene and took over further coordination. According to the incident report, the “Comillas Tercero” was almost completely engulfed in flames when the rescue units arrived.
One of the rescued men suffered burns to his face. He was picked up by Helimer 206 at around 9.22 am and flown to Santander Airport, where an ambulance took him on to hospital. The second man was treated aboard Salvamar Alcyone and taken to Laredo; the vessel docked there at 10.05 am. The rescue boat SAR Gavia was dispatched to the scene to assess the condition of the fishing vessel.
No official information on the cause of the fire, the extent of the damage or any environmental impact was available that morning. An investigation will be launched in accordance with standard procedures. The authorities initially gave no information about the men’s nationalities.
The sequence of events — the survivors were first taken aboard a nearby working vessel and then transferred to the state maritime rescue service — follows established procedures on Spain’s northern coast. In several cases in recent years, the swift response of fishing vessels has been crucial until air and sea units from Salvamento Marítimo arrive. The times and locations for this operation were provided by the Delegación del Gobierno en Cantabria and the control centre in Bilbao; further assessments of the cause or consequences would currently be speculative.
The coastal weather conditions and any risks from debris or pollution were not publicly quantified by the emergency services that morning. It was initially unclear whether debris remained afloat or whether the vessel sank. Salvamento Marítimo said it would provide information on further measures — such as firefighting, an attempt to tow the vessel or securing the accident site — as the situation developed.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).