The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation has just activated a new phase of the Consular Assistance Plan to attend to the three survivors and nine bodies upon their arrival in St. John’s Port in Newfoundland, following the shipwreck of the vessel ‘Villa de Pitanxo’.
Following intense collaboration in the search and rescue operation with the Canadian authorities during which time the Consul-General of Spain in Montreal travelled to St. John’s in Newfoundland, assisted by the Honorary Consul in St. John’s, the process has now entered into a new phase, activated following today’s arrival of two of the bodies recovered onboard the vessel ‘Nexus’, which will continue tomorrow morning with the arrival in the port of the three survivors rescued and the seven other bodies that were recovered, onboard the vessel ‘Playa Menduiña’.
The consular action will be carried out in coordination with the local authorities of Newfoundland and Labrador. Their actions will focus on a series of administrative formalities which, in the case of the deceased, will consist of the transfer of the mortal remains of the nine crew members who died to the morgue for identification and examination by the Canadian coroner; the issuance of the death certificate by the competent Canadian authorities and the individual transfer of the bodies to the funeral home.
The Spanish consular service will oversee compliance with Spanish provisions on police matters and mortuary health, and collect the authorisation for the transfer of the coffins to Spain from the Canadian authorities. The Consulate General will also make the corresponding registrations of death in the book of deaths at the Civil Registry Office, an essential formality to complete the documentation that will allow the mortal remains to be transferred back to Spain.
Support for the survivors
In the case of the survivors, the Consulate General will provide them with all the support necessary for the mandatory compliance with Canadian immigration and customs formalities. The Consulate will also issue travel documents to the crew members to allow them to return to Spain as soon as possible.
The plan to provide consular assistance to the families primarily seeks to repatriate the victims and survivors with all due guarantees, rigour and the utmost speed.
All these actions of the ‘in situ’ consular representatives are being coordinated with the central services of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation in Madrid. Its Directorate-General for Spaniards Abroad and Consular Affairs has been in touch with the families, the shipowner, the Government Delegation and the other people and institutions affected.
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