Rescue operations are underway in the Ionian Sea for a Spanish businessman from Burgos who was reported missing by his wife as the couple sailed from Sicily, southern Italy, to the Peloponnese in southern Greece.
The missing man, identified by Spanish media as 66-year-old Juan José Mutilba Obregon, fell overboard from the sailing yacht he was traveling on with his wife, who remained adrift for three days before managing to call for help. The incident took place last week and the yacht was eventually located off Pylos, Greece on Friday, August 21. The local coast guard is conducting a preliminary investigation on the incident while Greek and Italian authorities have joined the search for the missing man.
The couple’s children, who traveled to Greece to be close to their shocked mother and the rescue operations, have complained to Spanish daily El Mundo for limited information about the search and ask that the Spanish authorities become more involved in the efforts.
Un empresario español desaparece tras caer de su barco entre Sicilia y Grecia: su mujer pasó tres días a la deriva y le oyó gritar "¡Menchu, apaga el motor!"
Juan José Mutilba, de 66 años, se precipitó al mar tras resbalar mientras pescaba un atún durante una travesía entre…— Julián José Ahijado (@ahijadojj) August 23, 2026
Spanish businessman falls overboard while fishing in open sea
According to his wife who reported the incident, the 66-year-old fell overboard while he was fishing in the open sea between Sicily and the Peloponnese. He reportedly called for his wife, who was sailing with him, to switch off the yacht engines, but the woman was unable to control the boat or contact anyone for help for three days, as there was no mobile network signal.
On Friday, August 21, the Port Authority of Pylos was informed in the early morning hours by the Unified Search and Rescue Coordination Center of the Hellenic Coast Guard about the provision of assistance to a sailing vessel with a French flag in the sea area 18 nautical miles off Pylos. Two patrol boats, the fishing vessel “IOANNA-MARINA” and one patrol car by land rushed to the scene to provide assistance.
The retired IT-business owner used to spend much time sailing with his wife in the Mediterranean since he went into retirement in 2021, the two of them traveling from their native Spain to France, Italy, and Greece on their yacht.
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