The Portuguese Navy’s ocean-going patrol ship Setúbal rescued five men on a fishing boat this Saturday, 60 miles from Soyo, north of Angola, an official source said.
Speaking to Lusa, Commander Cayetano Silveira, who is responsible for Portugal’s cooperation in the Angolan navy area, explained that the ship was spotted on Friday evening and was “no move” due to an engine failure.
The fishermen left Luanda ten days ago and have been adrift for five days without food or water.
“She was discovered by accident,” a Navy spokesman said, adding that the ship had no way to call for help and was outside normal navigational routes, about 120 kilometers off the coast of Angola.
According to him, it is a “very primitive” fishing vessel in “poor condition” about six meters long.
The Portuguese Navy ship remained alongside the boat all night and reassessed the situation this morning and concluded that the engine could not be repaired.
“The option was to look for alternatives that would go there for towing,” which didn’t happen, which is why Setubal now does it after the naval command has authorized the tow.
According to Caetano Silveira, Porto do Soyo’s captain was asked to “create conditions for the completion of the towing operation”, which began at 11:30 local time (the same time in Lisbon) and will last from nine to ten hours.