Thursday, September 19, 2024

At least six dead and seven missing after fishing boat sinks off Falkland Islands

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At least six people have died and seven are missing after a fishing vessel sank, British and Spanish maritime officials said.

The boat, sailing under the flag of British territory St Helena, was carrying 27 people and was nearly 200 miles off the coast of the Falkland Islands when it got into trouble.

Fourteen people made it on to a life raft and were rescued by two other fishing boats nearby when the 176-foot vessel, called the Argos Georgia, sank in the South Atlantic Ocean near Argentina, Spanish authorities said.

Spanish officials identified 10 of the crew members as Spaniards, though they gave no details on their condition and said there were several other nationalities among the crew.

The British-controlled Falkland Islands – which Argentina calls the Islas Malvinas and claims as its own – said it received an emergency signal on Monday.

The signal indicated the boat was east of Stanley, the island’s capital, when it took on water and was sailing at a speed of 35 knots per hour, according to monitoring site MarineTraffic.com.

Image:
Where the ship was located. Pic: Marinetraffic.com

Aircraft and several vessels were deployed in the rescue effort.

The Argos Georgia is managed by privately-owned joint British-Norwegian company Argos Froyanes Ltd and was built in 2018, according to marine traffic tracker Vesselfinder.

Read more:
Falkland Islands sovereignty not up for debate, UK warns
Falklands War: Remembering the friends who never made it

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Britain and Argentina went to war over the Falkland Islands in 1982, when Argentine troops embarked on an invasion that killed 649 Argentines and 255 British soldiers.

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