At least six people have died and seven are missing when a fishing boat sank about 200 miles off the Falkland Islands, British and Spanish authorities said.
Fourteen people managed to reach a lifeboat and were rescued by two other nearby fishing boats when the 54-meter-long Argos Georgia sank in the South Atlantic, Spanish authorities said Tuesday.
Strong winds and waves damaged the ship, with 27 people on board, and caused water to rapidly fill the hull, the Argentine navy said.
The Spanish province of Pontevedra, in southeastern Galicia, said 10 of the crew members were Spanish. But there are several other nationalities among the crew, provincial authorities added.
Authorities in the Falkland Islands, a British-controlled archipelago that Argentina calls the Malvinas and claims as its own, said they had received a distress signal on Monday from the Argos Georgia.
The signal indicated that the ship was east of Stanley, the capital of the islands, when it began to take on water.
A helicopter, another plane and several boats were mobilized for rescue operations.
The island’s government said the helicopter crew spotted survivors at sea on Monday but was forced to suspend rescue operations due to rough seas, reduced visibility and windy conditions.
Work resumed when the storm calmed on Tuesday.
The 14 survivors rescued Tuesday night were taken to Stanley and taken to hospital for treatment, British authorities said.
The Argos Georgia was under the management of Argos Froyanes Ltd, a private British-Norwegian company, and sailed under the flag of Saint Helena, another British territory in the South Atlantic.
Source: Observadora
