At least six people dead and seven missing after fishing boat sinks off Falkland Islands
SIX people have reportedly been killed and seven have gone missing after a fishing boat sank off Falkland Islands.
The tragedy struck nearly 200 miles off the coast when the ship under the flag of British territory St Helena carrying 27 people ran into trouble.
The 176-foot vessel, called the Argos Georgia, went down in the South Atlantic Ocean near Argentina, according to Spanish officials.
The other 14 passengers have been rescued by two nearby fishing boats.
Ten members of the crew were identified as Spaniards by Pontevedra regional officials in Galicia.
No information was provided regarding their health while family members are being notified.
The regional government stated on X that one of the deceased is the ship’s cook, who is from the northwest town of Baiona.
They further mentioned that the crew consisted of various other nationalities.
The British-controlled Falkland Islands, which Argentina claims as its own, had 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 travelling at a pace of 35 knots per hour, according to tracking website MarineTraffic.com.
A helicopter, another aircraft and several vessels scrambled to the crew’s rescue but had to halt their operation due to severe weather.
The rescue team spotted the survivors stranded at sea on Monday but were forced to turn around because of poor visibility, wind and rough water.
The efforts were picked back up on Tuesday after the storm passed.
The Argos Georgia was constructed in 2018 and is operated by the privately held joint British-Norwegian business Argos Froyanes Ltd.
The company said in a statement: “Our crew members are true professionals and have regular training for such a situation.
“We trust in their ability to use the safety equipment to the best of their ability.”
In 1982, Argentina’s army launched an invasion of the Falkland Islands, which claimed the lives of 255 British soldiers and 649 Argentines.
This led to a ten-week war between Argentina and the United Kingdom over two British-controlled territories in the South Atlantic – the Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.