MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argos Georgia rescue: 14 alive, eight dead and five missing

“Puerto Toro” arrived, together with the FPV Lilibet, at the incident location at 09:00 hours, July 23, some 1.220 kilomerters from Punta Arenas, having rescued fourteen crew members alive

The loss of the St Helena longliner Argos Georgia, some 170 miles from the Falkland Islands, and whatever is happening with the 27 members of its crew, mostly Spaniards from Galicia, tells a different far more tragic story of what is happening with rescue operations because of the extreme climate conditions, 35 knots wind and eight-meter tall waves.

The Chilean version is that factory vessel “Puerto Toro” is fully involved in rescue operations of the tragic incident, between United Kingdom, Falklands and Chilean authorites, under most severe weather conditions in the Drake Passage.

 

 

Chilean flagged “Puerto Toro” belonging to Punta Arenas company PescaChile, on Monday, 22 July, received a distress call from Argos Georgia, at 13:50 and started emergency protocol authorization to immediately join search operations.

At 14:43, according to Marine Traffic, the last known position of Argos Georgia, was at 52 degrees, 18.28 South and 052/48/40 West, under CCAMLR jurisdiction.

The Chilean version is that “Puerto Toro” arrived, together with the FPV Lilibet, at the incident location at 09:00 hours, July 23, some 1.220 kilomerters from Punta Arenas, having rescued fourteen crew members alive, thirteen of which in a first raft. A second raft had another live crew member but unfortunately also a dead member. They were all transferred to FPV Lilibet, presumably to be transported to Stanley for medical attention,

However the tragedy meant that “Puerto Toro” also recovered another four bodies in the area, confirming the death of a total of five crew members. Search continues for another eight crew members that remain disappeared, out of a total of 27.

The Spanish version of the incident as reported by El Faro de Vigo, which is the Galicia fishing industry main newspaper confirms deaths and disappeared.

The tragic numbers of the longliner Argos Georgia incident life loss as anticipated by El Faro in its first Wednesday edition, are eight dead, fourteen rescued alive and five which remain disappeared. Rescue operations are scheduled to continue all night and the names of some of the dead have been notified to Galician families.

According to Spanish sources the Argos Georgia had a crew of 27, ten of which Spaniards mostly from Galicia, (six survied), plus eight Russians, two Uruguayans, two Peruvians and five from Indonesia.