A memorial service for the 21 crew members who lost their lives on the fishing vessel Villa de Pitanxo that sank at sea off the coast of Canada was held at The Lighthouse Seafarer’s Mission on Tuesday.

200 members of the community attended the service to pay their respects to the crew members who lost their lives. 21 lives were lost, with only three surviving. The service also remembered those in the Falklands who had lost loved ones at sea, and the continuing dangers that the Falklands fishing industry faces.

Organisers of the event noted the links between the Falklands fishing industry and Newfoundland, with many relatives and friends shared between the two communities.

Port Chaplain of the Lighthouse Seafarer’s mission, Morris Lake, said, “I think [it] reminds us that outside the military, fishing is the most dangerous profession that there is… and I take my hat off to the men and women that do do it.”