21 fishermen dead in Spanish trawler tragedy in Atlantic (photos)

Rescue efforts have already been halted though 12 fishermen are still missing after the Spanish fisherman inexplicably sank in the frozen waters of the North Atlantic, the Spanish government announced today.

The three disaster survivors are already sailing to Newfoundland, Canada, along with the bodies of nine of their dead colleagues.

A total of 21 people are presumed dead in the tragedy that occurred on Tuesday.

For 36 hours emergency services tried to find the rest of the crew but waves up to 10-meters high, cold temperatures and low visibility, hampered the mission.

The boat sank about 150 miles[450 km]off the coast of Canada, in an area known for storms and cold currents. The tragedy occurred in the north of the country where the Titanic ocean ferry sank in 1912.

The three survivors had escaped thanks to a lifeboat and were suffering from cold hypothermia when they were found by another fishing boat operating in the area.

The Spanish daily El Pais said only the ship’s captain, his nephew and a fisherman from Ghana had survived.

“The meteorological conditions were not the best, but they were not extreme either,” said Javier Touza, head of the Spanish fishermen’s cooperative in Galicia, of which the tragedy boat was a part.

“The vehicle was modern. “We need to talk to the captain to understand what happened, but the survivors were under shock and so far have only talked for a while with their families,” he added.

The rest of the crew who were from Spain, Ghana and Peru left behind grieving family members and their communities.

Luis Planas, the Spanish fisheries minister, said the event was the “biggest tragedy” in the Spanish fisheries sector after 38 years, when 26 fishermen died from the sinking of their boat in waters near Morocco.

“What happened in Canada highlights the extreme risk with which this activity is associated,” he added.

Spanish submarine ‘Villa de Pitanxo’