Search continues off N.L. coast for 11 missing crew members of Spanish fishing vessel

The search continues for the missing crew members of the Spanish fishing vessel Villa de Pitanxo, which sank 460 kilometres off the eastern coast of Newfoundland early Tuesday morning killing 10 people.

Three crew members of the 24-person crew have survived. Eleven are still missing as of Wednesday morning. Among the survivors are the vessel's 53-year-old captain and his 42-year-old nephew, according to Spanish newspaper La Voz de Galicia.

Lt.-Cmdr. Brian Owens of the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifax told CBC News on Wednesday morning the search and rescue effort is ongoing.

The CCGS Cygnus remained on the scene overnight, assisted by other fishing vessels. Hercules and Cormorant aircraft are returning to the area to assist on Wednesday, he said. 

"During the night, the conditions had deteriorated. We're now looking at 10-metre seas, with high winds and lower cloud cover," Owens said. 

"It is making the conditions very difficult to search and aerial searching is becoming more complicated, more difficult to see."

Owens said there's still hope in finding the remaining crew members, and a rescue effort is still the primary focus. 

The 50-metre-long Villa de Pitanxo operated out of Spain's Galicia province. On Tuesday, Owens said the JRCC learned of an emergency beacon coming from a fishing vessel about 250 nautical miles, or 460 kilometres, east of St. John's shortly after midnight.

Alberto Nunez Feijoo, leader of the Galicia province in northwest Spain, told reporters two Galician fishing boats were in the area at the time and were part of the initial recovery. Two life rafts were onboard the Villa de Pitanxo. Three survivors were located on one.

Sixteen Spaniards, five Peruvians and three Ghanaians are among the crew.

On Wednesday, Cristina Porteiro, a reporter with La Voz de Galicia, told CBC News a lot of families in the area have been impacted by the tragedy. 

"We depend on the fishing ... a lot of families are linked to this sector," she said. 

"It's a very, very important sector for the local people."

Porteiro said at least eight of the crew members are from Galicia, and the captain and his nephew have been in contact with their families.