Overview
- ARVI’s president initially told EFE that three Galician crewmen from O Morrazo died in a taxi crash en route from Windhoek to Walvis Bay, prompting national pickup.
- Checks with Namibian media, port contacts in Walvis Bay and Lüderitz, and local companies found no record of such a crash, and the claim was later discarded.
- Vessel-tracking data and the armadora confirmed the trawler Helena Ndume was in Suva, Fiji, not Namibia, during the period in question.
- Aboard the Helena Ndume in Suva, crewman Javier C. G., from O Morrazo, died after an apparent gas leak in the engine room; Fijian police opened an investigation and other injured crew were treated and released.
- Spain’s embassy in Windhoek referred inquiries to the OID as outlets corrected early reports, and recent maritime probes into gas leaks highlight ongoing safety concerns on distant-water fleets.