the sad story of a captain killed by a covid on the high seas and the tragedy of his Argentinian family

Infected with Covid-19, he died on the high seas, in the Indian Ocean the commander Angelo Andrea Capurro, 62 years old. We knew it was around Tuesday the 13th but the exact date of his death is not yet known. From Durban in South Africa, the ship “Ital Libera” The Italian flag was heading for Singapore, which rejected the berth due to the danger of contagion. Other ports did the same until Monday morning, when the ship in the cold room in which the body of Captain Capurro lies was received in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia.

A sad story, strewn with criminal episodes to be resolved by justice, more bitter in its Argentinian family: wife Patricia, 60, and their children Angel Federico, 38, and María Elena, 35, who want to know the truth.

Fatality alone does not explain what happened, says Patricia. “The lack of help and the omission of help these are crimes and it is added that there are twenty men of the crew at risk or already infected, which underlines the guilty havoc, ”Patricia de Capurro told“ Clarín ”from her home in La Spezia, in the north of the ‘Italy.

Angelo and Patricia got married in our country after the Italian sailor chose Argentina because there were no shipments to Italy. They lived there for eight years until Capurro returned to his career after the crisis.

“Angelo loved our country until the last day,” says Patricia.

The two children were born in Buenos Aires, both university graduates without a stable job due to high unemployment worsened by the economic crisis caused by the pandemic, which has caused the loss of nearly a million jobs per year. last in Italy.

Mission to Durban

On March 16, the company that owns “Ital Libera” asked Angelo to take swabs and other tests, which came back negative. The company is called Italia Marítima and is part of the Evergreen Group, which also owns the gigantic container ship that blocked the Suez Canal, sandblasting itself in March, a fact that had big international repercussions.

On March 26, his wife said, they summoned him to Trieste, gave him another negative swab and gave him an order to go to Durban, in South Africa, and assume the command of “Ital Libera”.

Patricia remembered the precarious state the health of her husband, who had to work as the sole breadwinner of the family. “He was immunocompromised, diabetic, suffering from hypertension and heart problems, gout and phlebitis, severe bilateral osteoarthritis, ulcer and acidic blood.”

On March 27, it left for Doha, Qatar, with another stopover in Johannesburg, South Africa, before a final flight to Durban. Thirty-six hours of flight that exhausted him. Patricia believes it was in the human overcrowding at Doha airport that she was most likely infected.

Symptoms on board

In Durban, Angelo Capurro took command of the enormous container ship and left for Singapore, where it was due to arrive on Friday 16 of this month. But two days after shipment symptoms started pandemic virus. Cough, chest pain, severe joint pain, drowsiness and difficulty breathing. There was no doctor on board the ship.

“I called Dr. David Barletta,” the family doctor, “to ask for helpHis wife explained. The doctor asked for the list of medications on the boat and tried to treat him from a distance. “I notified the company and they did nothing. The first deck officer, the Italian Antonio D’Esposito, did not assume command or call for help by helicopter, nor did he favor the approach to the coast to help the patient. In addition, in the Indian Ocean, there are many military ships to support merchants against piracy, ”he says and denounces.

“No attempt was made doing everything what is possible to save him, ”condemned Patricia.

Lawyers Raffaella Lorgna and Lucía Barbieri represent the family of Commander Capurro. The family and their lawyers want to know circumstances and the responsibilities of the shipping company and what happened on the ship.

“The port captains are mobilizing to issue the death certificate, which must be drawn up by the first officer in charge of the ship, Antonio D’Esposito. I know the navigation code and after the death of my husband he is also a registrar representing the Italian government. He hasn’t done it yet and we don’t know what strategy his attitude is, ”said Patricia.

Capurro was much loved by the crews he commanded for his humanity and skill, the woman added. The death certificate is essential to disembark the body and send it by plane feel.

The Argentinian family, Patricia and her two children, must travel to Rome to recognize the body, which will undergo an autopsy before returning it to the family.

“Now we wait and then it will be the hour of the law»Said his wife. “So that no other man of the sea should endure the trial of my husband.”

Rome, correspondent