The families of the victims of the “Villa de Pitanxo” demonstrated last week in Pontevedra for the departure of the expedition without judicial authorization.Salvador Sas (EFE)
The Department of Transport wasted no time following the controversy over the departure, without court approval, of the expedition that will attempt to reach the remains of the Galician fishing vessel Villa de Pitanxo, which sank 450 kilometers off the coast of Newfoundland on February 15, 2022 (Canada ) – a shipwreck that killed 21 people: 9 sailors died and 12 were missing. This Tuesday, less than 24 hours after Judge Ismael Moreno asked the government for explanations for the departure of the team of experts aboard the ship Artabro, Transportes sent a letter to the Judge of the National Court detailing that the entire operation is directly managed the Permanent Commission for the Investigation of Casualties and Incidents at Sea (Ciaim) becomes an “independent” body that does not work under its orders.
In this five-page letter, to which EL PAÍS had access, Transport emphasizes that it cannot provide the judge with the necessary data “regarding the departure of the ship or other aspects related” to the expedition. “Only Ciaim is qualified to provide such information,” says the document from the department headed by Socialist Minister Raquel Sánchez. In this sense, the Ministry points out that the Permanent Commission “is a collegial body with full operational autonomy” and which, on the basis of the legislation in force, “takes all decisions related to the technical investigation of accidents and incidents in maritime transport without participation of the Ministry” can issue instructions in this regard”.
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Judge Moreno, investigating the causes of the shipwreck, accused Transport on Monday that the Artabro had set sail on May 17 from the port of Vigo (Pontevedra) “without the express authorization” of his court and without having “complied with” the “repeated” commands he transmitted. The court had previously pointed out that once it was known which company had commissioned the expedition, it was for the judge to agree on the dates of the operation and “the form”. However, the ship departed without the consent of the judge, who had been informed of the departure just hours before, and only one of the two experts was hired by the instructor to prepare a report.
For this reason, Moreno requested “urgent” explanations from the ministry’s Deputy Director General for Administration and Financial Management, who quickly sent him this five-page reply letter; and also the head of Ciaim chaired by Jesús Panadero Pastrana. EL PAÍS has contacted the Standing Commission to get their version of events and to find out who gave the order for the expedition to leave. By late Tuesday afternoon, however, she had not yet responded to the newspaper’s questions and was silent.
In its explanations, the Ministry insists that its intervention in the project of locating and lowering the Villa de Pitanxo was only of an administrative nature, in order to provide Ciaim with financial resources, however, all decisions on the allocation and award rested with this body. “It is Ciaim’s responsibility to prepare the technical specifications of the contract, the technical evaluation of the offers received and, in particular, the execution of the contract,” the letter to the judge reads. Furthermore, the document stresses that Transport intervened because the Standing Commission “has no separate legal personality” and therefore “cannot be a contracting authority under the provisions of the Public Sector Procurement Regulations”.
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In this sense, the ministry insists that Ciaim is “organically linked to transport” for the same reason (lack of legal personality), but carries out its work with total autonomy. Without following the instructions of the department headed by Raquel Sánchez. “In accordance with community law and international standards in this area, accident investigation organizations must be independent of any agents that may be the subject of the investigation, which include administrative centers and ministries,” reads the response sent to the national court, Clinches : “It is forbidden by law for the administrative authorities in maritime or port matters (the Department of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda) to give you instructions in this regard.”
Coroner Moreno has charged Villa de Pitanxo boss Juan Padín with gross negligence and violation of workers’ rights on 21 counts of involuntary manslaughter. The families of the victims last week denounced the expedition’s departure without the judge’s approval, fearing that the defense “might question the results” during the trial. “More than anyone, we want the ship to put to sea, but it must respect all the guarantees so that no one questions the validity of this test,” said the group’s spokeswoman, María José de Pazo.
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