An unmanned yacht with a German flag has been found drifting off the island of Sagres, at the mouth of the Ria de Arousa in north-western Spain. Authorities suspect it might have been involved in a drug delivery.

Published 6 months ago

Abandoned Yacht

Source:  La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish)

The German-flagged vessel, Free, was detected adrift and with a leak and no crew on board, off the island of Sagres located to the north of the mouth of the Ria de Arousa last week. Everything indicated that the yacht may well have been involved in a drug dump.

The first warning about the existence of the drifting sailboat came from the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in Monte Enxa, which requested the mobilization of Fisheries One in case it was necessary to provide assistance to the boat. The lifeboat Sargadelos left the port of Ribeira under orders to investigate and assist. The latter’s crew accessed the boat and found that there was no one on board. At this point two Customs boats took over the operation. The LS Hermes, a boat belongnig to the Red Cross, was also mobilized.

When the sailboat was intercepted at the mouth of the Ria, it was sinking.

A complicated operation began to tow the sinking sailboat to shore, that lasted until 23:30 hours. The two Customs boats towed the sailboat either side, towards the port of Aguiño, where the shipyard is located, all the time bailing out water to prevent it sinking.

On arrival at the shipyard, the sailboats was lifted by travelift and inspected. Nautical staff participated in this operation.

The sailboat – approximately 10 meters long – lacked a bill of sale, although various sources indicated that this is common in foreign-flagged boats. However, on her stern it seems that some inscription has been erased or a plaque removed.

Customs members who participated in the operation examined the interior, where they were able to verify that GPS was present, among other navigational instruments.

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Translated from Spanish using Google Translate.

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Noonsite has not independently verified this information.

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