The two tuna purseseiners “Egalabur†and “Izurdiaâ€, property of the Spanish company Atunsa, and which have been operating in Senegal for the past seven months will be scrapped in Camargo.
The “Egalabur†made news headlines when after a trip to fish in Senegal waters, it arrived to the Galician port of Villagarcia de Arosa, where it moored and unloaded its tuna catch. However, four Senegalese crewmembers, whose work contract had expired, left ship and fled instead of returning to their country of origin. The Spanish National Police is still searching the four men.
The marine captain of Villagarcia, Roberto Rietz, explained that given their working contracts were already terminated, “the seiner’s management had contracted other fishermen to occupy their positions.†The “Egalabur†was authorized to leave port, once the vacancies were replaced.
The “Egalaburâ€, which was built in the Celaya shipyard of Bilbao in 1983 and has a length of 52,3 meters, just finalized its last trip arriving to port a few days ago with its 13 crewmen.
The other purseseiner “Izurdia†was also built by Celaya in 1975 with the same length of 52,3 meters, 10,7 meters width and 13 crewmembers. Just like the “Egalaburâ€, the “Izurdia†rendered its last trip after a seven month tuna fishing campaign in Africa.