CAMINHO DA BOA VIAGEM - Very Serious Maritime Casualty

On 16 March 2026, the Portuguese-flagged coastal fishing vessel CAMINHO DA BOA VIAGEM was hauling pots approximately 12 nautical miles off Póvoa de Varzim, with the skipper in the wheelhouse and the other seven crew members working on deck, when seawater entered the vessel. The water ingress was detected only after it had begun to affect the vessel’s operating and stability conditions. The situation deteriorated rapidly, leaving insufficient time to identify the source of the flooding or implement effective recovery measures. The vessel developed an increasing list to starboard and subsequently capsized. The skipper made a distress call and all eight crew members abandoned the vessel. Five crew members were rescued by the fishing vessel S. DONATO and the remaining three by the fishing vessel S. MARQUES. The occurrence resulted in one injured crew member and the total loss of CAMINHO DA BOA VIAGEM. The investigation concluded that the loss did not result from a single cause or individual action, but from the interaction between water ingress, the resulting loss of stability and the limited time available for adaptation and response.