At least 6 people are dead and 7 are missing after a fishing vessel sinks in the South Atlantic
By The Associated Press on July 23, 2024.
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) – A fishing boat carrying 27 people sank Tuesday nearly 200 miles (320 kilometers) off the coast of the Falkland Islands, leaving at least six people dead and seven people missing, according to British and Spanish maritime officials. Fourteen people made it onto a life raft and were rescued by two other fishing boats that were nearby when the 176-foot (54-meter) vessel, called the Argos Georgia, sank in the South Atlantic Ocean near Argentina, Spanish authorities said. Officials from Spain’s Pontevedra province in southeastern Galicia, identified 10 of the crew members as Spaniards, but did not elaborate on their condition. They said there were several other nationalities among the crew. The Falkland Islands – the British-controlled archipelago that Argentina calls the Islas Malvinas and claims as its own – said it had received an emergency signal on Monday from the Argos Georgia. The signal indicated that the boat was east of Stanley, the capital of the Falkland Islands, when it began taking on water. At the time, the ship was sailing at a speed of 35 knots per hour, according to monitoring site MarineTraffic.com. Aircraft and several vessels were deployed in the search-and-rescue effort. The Argos Georgia is managed by Argos Froyanes Ltd, a privately-owned joint British-Norwegian company, and was sailing under the flag of St Helena, another of Britain’s remaining overseas territories in the South Atlantic. The boat was built in 2018, according to Vesselfinder, a website for tracking marine traffic. Britain and Argentina went to war over the Falkland Islands in 1982, when Argentine troops embarked on an ill-fated invasion that killed 649 Argentines and 255 British soldiers. 9-8
