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The small ferry boat covered the route between El Puerto de Santa María and Cádiz
El Adriano III - EFE
Visitors to El Puerto de Santa María will know the small ferryboat, known as El Vaporcito, which crosses the Guadalete and Cádiz Bay on a 45 minute route to Cádiz. Well the boat, El Adriano III, sunk on Tuesday, going down in just seven minutes after hitting the Reina Victoria quay. It appears a hole was opened near the bow by the collision.
There was time to safely evacuate the 40 passengers and three crew on board at the time.
However 15 of the passengers have decided to place a denuncia, claiming that the captain had fallen asleep, and it was the passengers who had to advise of the coming collision.
The boat was well loved, and politicians from the PSOE and the PP
have lamented the sinking. A Facebook group calling for the vessel to be refloated has already reached 2,000.
The ‘Vaporcito’ started its service in 1929 with the first vessel ‘Adriano 1’ to coincide with the Iberoamerican Exhibition which was held in Sevilla that year. A second boat, ‘Adriano II’ ran between 1932 and 1982, and the boat which went down on Tuesday, ‘Adriano III’ was built in Vigo in 1955.
Posted in: El Vaporcito' sinks in Cádiz
