Search continues between Italy and Greece for Spanish sailor lost after slipping on tuna blood
Spanish, Italian, and Greek maritime authorities are searching for 66-year-old Juan José Mutilba Obregón, who fell overboard from a catamaran between Sicily and Greece after slipping on tuna blood.
Disappearance in the Ionian Sea
Maritime rescue teams from Italy and Greece are searching for Juan José Mutilba Obregón, a 66-year-old retired Spanish businessman from Burgos who fell overboard between Sicily and Greece. Mutilba, a licensed yacht captain and sailing enthusiast, had departed from the Sicilian port of Syracuse on Monday, 17 August 2026, alongside his wife. Their destination was the coastal town of Pylos in southern Greece. On the morning of Tuesday, 18 August 2026, while navigating open waters between the two countries, Mutilba caught a tuna on deck. According to account details provided by his family to the news agency EFE and the regional newspaper Diario de Burgos, he slipped on the fish's blood and fell into the sea.
Three days adrift without communication
Following the fall, Mutilba's wife remained on board the French-flagged catamaran sailboat but was unable to stop the vessel or carry out maneuvers to reach and rescue her husband. She attempted to place an emergency call immediately after the accident, but the vessel lacked mobile network coverage in that stretch of the sea. The catamaran continued to drift out of control, moving farther away from the site where Mutilba had fallen into the water. The woman remained stranded on board for three days without communication, drifting across the sea between southern Italy and southwestern Greece.
- Juan José Mutilba Obregón and his wife depart from Syracuse, Sicily, on a voyage toward Pylos, Greece.
- Mutilba falls overboard in the morning after slipping on fish blood, leaving his wife drifting aboard the vessel.
- Wife regains mobile signal, alerts emergency services via a friend, and Greek responders intercept the boat 18 nautical miles off Pylos.
- Maritime search efforts by Italian and Greek authorities remain active.
International search deployment
On Friday, 21 August 2026, three days after the incident, the woman regained cellular reception and phoned a family friend who possesses navigation experience. The friend contacted Spain's maritime rescue agency, Salvamento Marítimo, which relayed the emergency details to its counterparts in Italy and Greece. Greek and Italian authorities mobilized resources to the sector, deploying two Coast Guard patrol boats, one land vehicle, and the commercial fishing vessel IOANNA-MARINA. Greek emergency crews located the French-flagged sailboat roughly 18 nautical miles off the coast of Pylos, Greece, where it was drifting without navigation control. Rescuers towed the catamaran with the wife on board safely into the port of Pylos.
Vessel background and diplomatic notification
Mutilba retired in 2021 and had since dedicated a large portion of his time to recreational sailing with his wife, according to statements from his son, Sergio Mutilba. The couple had purchased the catamaran sailboat in February 2026. The family explained that while the wife possesses basic sailing knowledge, she lacked familiarity with the specific operational controls of the newly acquired catamaran, a vessel that is difficult for a single person to handle in an emergency. The search for the missing businessman remains active across the marine corridor between Italy and Greece. The family has also notified the Spanish embassy in Rome to request further institutional assistance.
