Search continues for missing fishing vessel carrying 200 migrants, suspected boat turns out to be different

Madrid, Spain

A fishing vessel carrying approximately 200 migrants from Senegal, which had been missing for almost two weeks now, is not yet found and the initial belief by the rescue service that the lost boat has been located turned out to be incorrect, reported Reuters. This comes after a reconnaissance plane deployed during the search efforts identified a boat located 71 miles (114 km) south of Gran Canaria. It lead the rescue service to believe it could be the missing vessel. However, reports stated that it appears to be a separate one. 

After further investigation, the rescue team discovered 86 individuals on board. The officials said that they need to make additional inquiry to determine the origin of the newly-found boat.

The boat is currently being towed towards Gran Canaria, the report said. 

Missing fishing vessel 

According to Migrant Aid Group Walking Borders, the fishing vessel carrying around 200 people, along with two other boats, one transporting approximately 65 individuals and the other with an estimated 50 to 60 individuals, had been missing for roughly two weeks since their departure from Senegal in an attempt to reach Spain.

The families of the estimated 300 migrants on these three boats have not received any recent updates regarding their location.

What did the Spanish officials say?

The Spanish officials earlier said that they have found what might be a fishing vessel from Senegal with about 200 migrants on board which was reported to be missing nearly two weeks earlier. The Salvamento Maritimo, earlier on Monday, said that they were looking for a boat “that left Senegal with around 200 people on board”. 

“The plane has found a boat and it is possibly the one we were looking for because from the air, it could have around 200 people on board,” a spokeswoman for the Spanish coastguard told AFP.

Meanwhile, the official also told Reuters that it was “possible” that it was the missing vessel. She added that a rescue ship is on the way and it would take about two-and-a-half hours to reach the location.

This comes after the Spanish officials had said that there was one official alert in place for the boat with 200 passengers while its plane was also lookout for any other vessels in distress. 

“With the plane, we have been searching a very wide area south of Gran Canaria and Tenerife but we haven’t found it,” the Spanish coastguard spokeswoman had told AFP, earlier. Three boats carrying hundreds of African migrants have been reported to be missing in the waters off the Canary Islands in the North Atlantic Ocean. 

According to the humanitarian organisation Walking Borders, the fishing boat embarked from Kafountine, a coastal town in southern Senegal, which is approximately 1,700 kilometres (1,057 miles) away from Tenerife.

Approximate location from where the migrant boat reportedly went missing | Map not to scale | Google Maps

Canary Islands missing boats: Who all are missing?

Spain's Efe news agency reported that the group has mentioned the presence of numerous children on board the biggest of three boats. In total, the said boat is reported to have been boarded by nearly 200 individuals from Kafountine with the intention of reaching the Canary Islands.

The two other similar boats, each carrying dozens of individuals, were said to be missing.

Efe was informed by Spain's maritime rescue service that an aircraft has joined the search efforts. Details related to the other two boats are limited.

Helena Maleno from Walking Borders, quoted by Reuters news agency, stated that one of the boats has around 65 people on board, while the other is carrying up to 60 individuals. This brings the total number of missing people across the three boats to more than 300.

Boat tragedies near Spain

The latest case of boats going missing in the Atlantic comes after one of the most tragic migrant shipwrecks in the Mediterranean, where an overcrowded trawler sank off the coast of Greece.

Also read | Titanic sub and Greek migrant ship: An Orwellian reminder that some deaths are more equal than others

At least 78 casualties have been confirmed, but the UN has reported that up to 500 individuals are still unaccounted for.

The route from West Africa to the Canary Islands is considered one of the most perilous for migrants due to the powerful Atlantic currents and the use of rudimentary dugout fishing boats that are vulnerable to capsizing.

Also watch | Greece boat tragedy: WION speaks to families of Pakistani victims caught in shipwreck

According to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), in 2022, a minimum of 559 people lost their lives at sea while attempting to reach the Spanish islands. The death toll for 2021 reached 1,126.

The IOM cited Spain's Interior Ministry, stating that irregular arrivals in the Canary Islands totalled 15,682 individuals in 2022, representing a 30 per cent decrease compared to 2021.

"Despite the year-to-year decrease, the number of people undertaking this perilous route since 2020 remains high compared to previous years," the IOM said.

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