THE Almería Provincial Court imposed five years in prison on the captain of a boat which left the Algerian coast and which, after drifting due to lack of fuel, managed to reach the island of Alborán after two days at sea while its occupants they rowed by hand.
The sentence, consulted by Europa Press and against which there is an appeal, highlights the “lack of expertise” of the accused, who made the trip during which on board eight occupants “lasted more than two days, part of it being adrift”, resulting in danger to everyone’s lives.
“Even though the voyage began with calm seas, weather conditions were deteriorating up to a certain swell, circumstances which, with the overload, increased the risk”, indicates the judicial decision, which explains the “many hours” during which the boat drifted until it managed to reach the island thanks to the fact that they all rowed together with your hands.
The events occurred in the early morning of February 22, 2023, when the boat, approximately six meters long, left the Algerian coast equipped with a 40 horsepower engine to Spain in order to encourage the irregular entry of foreigners into the country.
Thus, the accused was also responsible for refueling the engine with the bottles of gasoline he had sent and using the GPS to orient himself, even if his “lack of expertise” meant that “few time after their departure”, they would get lost and sail “without a fixed destination” until the tires ran out of fuel.
From then on, the boat’s occupants remained adrift until, at dusk, they sighted the island of Alborán. So they rowed with their hands in this direction all night until they reached dry land at 12:40 p.m. the next day, helped by the Maritime Service of the Civil Guard.
By this gesture, the accused “endangered the life and integrity of the occupants” since the boat “did not meet the minimum safety conditions to ensure the safety of human life at sea”, as it was overweight partly due to the fuel bottles, which introduced a fire risk on board.
The witnesses gave numerous details about the trip, the characteristics of the boat, the spare fuel bottles and the behavior of the accused, who, according to them, “He smoked with gasoline despite everyone’s complaints”.
Faced with their stories, “rich in details, credible and coincident” in substance, the accused denied the facts and assured that it was “a hooded man who drove then returned with the boat”, which is implausible since the we know that the boat intervened.
