It has been a treacherous week for fishermen along the Portuguese coast. In two separate in Olhão and Leixões, a total of nine fishermen had to be rescued from sinking fishing boats. Luckily, all the men escaped unscathed.
The first case occurred along the Algarve coast, where three Spanish fishermen were rescued from a sinking boat just off the Olhão coast in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
The craft is believed to have hit the Olhão-Faro pier and begun to sink off Praia do Farol in Culatra Island, said Olhão Port Captain Conceição Duarte. The reason behind the accident, however, was not made clear.
By the time the local maritime police arrived at the scene, the fishermen had already abandoned the ship and were found safe aboard lifeboats.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday at around 12.30pm, six fishermen were rescued from a Sagres-registered fishing boat that began to fill up with water eight miles away from Leixões port, where it normally operates.
Leixões Port Captain Martins dos Santos said the crew – three Portuguese men and three Ukrainian men – was reported to be in good health.
