The Maritime Police and the Viana do Castelo Lifeboat Station rescued three people last night after a high-speed boat ran aground approximately 60 nautical miles west of Viana do Castelo. The three crew members, two of Spanish nationality and one of Swedish nationality, aged between 25 and 40, were initially rescued at sea by a merchant ship, after an alert received by the Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Centre in Lisbon in the middle of the day.
Resources from the Captaincy, Maritime Police, the GNR Coastal and Border Control Unit and the Judicial Police were mobilized to attend to the situation. The transfer of the crew members was carried out approximately two nautical miles from the outer breakwater of Viana do Castelo.
The high-speed boat, flying a Spanish flag, was seized as a precautionary measure at the Lifeboat Station quay. Despite being physically well, the three men were identified and, after coordination with the Judicial Police and the Public Ministry as part of the ongoing investigations, voluntarily left the Maritime Police premises, which took charge of the incident.
