In mid-September, a factory ship flying the Gambian flag and owned by a Maltese company collided with and sank a trawler flying the Mauritanian flag and owned by a Spanish company. Five Mauritanian seafarers lost their lives. What about European responsibility behind this tragedy?
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On the evening of 12 September 2025, the 31-metre Spanish-origin trawler TAFRA 3, flying the Mauritanian flag, sank in a matter of minutes after being struck by the RIGHT WHALE, a 105-metre factory ship flying the Gambian flag.
Twenty-one crew members of the TAFRA 3 were rescued, but five of them, of Mauritanian origin, are still missing and presumed lost at sea.
A video posted online shows the RIGHT WHALE colliding with the TAFRA 3 while it was engaged in fishing activities and therefore had reduced manoeuvrability. No one was on the bridge of the factory ship at the time of the collision with the TAFRA 3. A judicial investigation is still ongoing by the Mauritanian authorities to determine who was responsible.
The shipwreck occurred approximately 23 nautical miles south-west of Cap Blanc, in Mauritania's EEZ, one of the densest fishing areas in West Africa, where industrial fishing vessels coexist with artisanal boats.
1. Behind the African flags, European companies
The TAFRA 3, a Mauritanian bottom trawler owned by a Spanish company, holds a cephalopod fishing licence and occasionally targets hake during closed seasons for cephalopods. It should be noted that following the zero access for octopus included in the EU-Mauritania Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement since 2012, several European cephalopod trawlers reflagged, notably to Mauritania, in order to continue their operations in this fishery.
The factory vessel RIGHT WHALE is no stranger. Back in 2021, CFFA had already listed this vessel among a dozen factory vessels reflagged in Cameroon and owned or managed by European-based companies. Several of these vessels, including those in the “WHALE” family, have a history of illegal fishing in West Africa.
The European regulation on control, reviewed in 2024, prohibits vessels owned or managed by European companies from registering in countries that have been given a “red card” by the EU for non-cooperation in the fight against IUU fishing. Cameroon having received this red card, this led to an exodus of European-owned vessels to other African countries, notably Guinea Bissau and The Gambia, as in the case of the RIGHT WHALE.
When operating in Mauritania, the RIGHT WHALE targets small pelagic species, the same resources that are also fished by artisanal fishers and smoked or dried by women fish processors in countries such as Senegal and The Gambia. The activities of factory ships such as the RIGHT WHALE add to the excessive pressure on small pelagic fish, many of which are overexploited, threatening the future of the communities that depend on them for their livelihoods and food.
A company registered in Malta with Russian, Emirati and Baltic interests
As in 2021, the RIGHT WHALE is owned by Ocean Whale Company Limited, a company registered in Malta whose directors and shareholders are of Russian, Baltic and Emirati origin, according to ICIJ (International Consortium of Investigative Journalists).
Before Cameroon, the vessel had sailed under other dubious flags, which have also been blacklisted for their lax approach to IUU fishing: Comoros, Saint Kitts and Nevis. After Cameroon, the vessel was reflagged to Guinea-Bissau, before flying the Gambian flag at present.
During its brief stint under the Guinea-Bissau flag, this vessel, along with other “WHALE” vessels, was the subject of a case study by Oceana entitled “How EU nationals can exploit legal loopholes and profit from owning non-European fishing vessels”. The “WHALE” vessels were chosen for the study ‘because of their history of name and flag changes, as well as their potential involvement in IUU fishing’.
Their passage through Guinea-Bissau also drew criticism from members of the European Parliament's Committee on Fisheries (PECH) at the end of 2024. Indeed, while the new protocol to the fisheries agreement with Guinea-Bissau granted zero access to small pelagic species for European vessels, the “WHALE” vessels circumvented this restriction by reflagging locally.
2. Responsibility of operators and capital linked to the EU
As Oceana points out, these vessels match the characteristics corresponding to high risk indicators for IUU fishing: repeated changes of flag, lack of transparency regarding beneficial owners, flagging and operations concentrated in countries where control is a challenge.
“We have a European-owned vessel, showing a high risk of IUU, and its operations led to the sinking of a trawler with tragic consequences. This case is clearly a governance matter for EU to consider.””
We have a vessel that is owned and managed in Malta – and therefore in Europe – which shows a high risk of illegal practices and whose actions led to the sinking of a boat in Mauritania, with tragic consequences: the loss of five Mauritanian sailors at sea.
In such a case, due diligence, safety at sea and liability provisions are not “private matters” to be dealt with by operators; they too are clearly a matter for European policy towards the nationals involved.
a) Responsibility of the beneficial owner's country and the need for consistent external action
The EU does not hesitate to use the IUU “carding” instrument against West African flag states such as Cameroon, or more recently Senegal, citing poor fleet control (including vessels owned by European beneficial owners). This policy should work both ways: if the European Union expects African coastal states to control risky fleets, it must also ensure that EU-based owners, managers, financiers and service providers, such as here in Malta, do not export the risk and enjoy impunity.
“The IUU carding policy should be coherent: if the European Union expects African coastal states to control risky fleets, it must also ensure that EU-based owners do not export the risk and enjoy impunity.””
In order to support the ongoing investigation in Mauritania, the EU should put pressure on Malta to examine whether EU nationals have failed in their duty of care or their obligations regarding safety management systems, which could amount to supporting illegal behaviour at sea.
None of this prejudges the Mauritanian judicial process or absolves other actors of their responsibilities. However, the EU bears political responsibility for the governance model. If this model leads to a night-time collision that sinks a Mauritanian vessel with five men lost at sea, then this model is not sufficiently safe and the European Union must help to correct it, in a transparent and rapid manner and with due regard for justice.
B) Using the architecture of fisheries agreements to promote responsible governance in the region
It should be noted that the last two flags of the RIGHT WHALE, Guinea-Bissau and The Gambia, are countries with which the EU has a Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement (SFPA). The agreement with The Gambia may be ‘dormant’ today, but the cooperation framework remains in place. It is precisely cases such as the sinking of the TAFRA 3 that demonstrate why framework agreements should be used even when there is no active protocol.
When a vessel flying the Gambian flag but owned and managed by European operators is involved in a fatal accident in the Mauritanian EEZ, the question arises not only in terms of the flag state's responsibility, but also whether the EU is using its partnerships to enhance transparency, safety at sea, surveillance and accountability throughout the region.
Conclusion
This tragic shipwreck off the coast of Mauritania is not just a simple accident at sea. It highlights the flaws in a system where European operators flying African flags circumvent the rules, without control or transparency. If the European Union truly wants to promote sustainable and safe fishing, it must assume its share of responsibility by ensuring that its own nationals can no longer act with impunity in African waters.
Banner photo: A screenshot of the video from the RIGHT WHALE deck camera showing the collision with the TAFRA 3. Source: Kanal13.
In mid-September, a factory ship flying the Gambian flag and owned by a Maltese company collided with and sank a trawler flying the Mauritanian flag and owned by a Spanish company. Five Mauritanian seafarers lost their lives. What about European responsibility behind this tragedy?