VIRXEN DA BLANCA
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Detained longliner had tonnes of shark fins on board
The Virxen da Blanca" (241 gt, built 2005), which was detained by the Irish Naval Service, off the southwest coast of Ireland last week, was found to have more than a tonnes of shark fins on board. Up to 5,000 sharks were estimated to have been caught and stored on the vessel, before it was boarded by an inspection team from the Irish Naval vessel "LE William Butler Yeats" about 150 nautical miles south of Mizen Head. The vessel was escorted into Castletownbere on Aug 31, 2018, where it was handed over to the Garda Siochana, who were assisted by the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA). A special sitting of Clonakilty District Court, on Sep 1, heard the vessel had 164,250 kilograms of blue shark, 98 kilograms of Mako shark and 1,250 kilograms of shark fins on board. The Master of the fishing vessel was charged and a release bond of ?335,000 is placed upon the vessel. The owners of the vessel have been reported in the Spanish press as contending, that the Irish authorities had misinterpreted the EU rules, and that the only part of the sharks removed, was the anal fin which is severed, when gutting the marine species.
Trawler diverted to boat rescue
On Aug 26, 2011, the "Virxen de Blanca" received a distress call from the French pleasure boat "Moana". The fishing vessel was diverted to the area 230 km off the southern tip of Penmarch. A Falcon 50 was immediately launched. After an overview of the area and making contact with the members of the boat, it turned out that the boat five persons on board (including a child) and a dog had suffered a leak and damaged sails. At 7:30 p.m., the EC225 helicopter of the Navy Base in Lanvéoc was deployed in the area and hoisted the boat crew. Two other commercial vessels have been diverted in order to be available if needed. At 9.45 p.m., the five people and the dog were landed on the base of Lanvéoc in good health.
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