Eight people have been confirmed dead and five are missing after the Norwegian-owned fishing vessel “Argos Georgia” sank in the Atlantic Ocean off the Falkland Islands, Spain’s Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares reports to the AFP news agency.
Just half an hour after the ship sent its first Mayday to the Main Rescue Center in Southern Norway, the crew went into lifeboats.
On Tuesday morning, rescue leader Per Hognaland from HRS reported that the search crew has faced extremely poor search conditions.
– They tried with a helicopter, but it could not go due to the weather conditions. It is blowing 65 knots. It’s a hurricane, he said.
The only resource that has been searching through the night is a larger boat.
– The plan is to get a new flyover in the area, but this depends on cloud cover and good conditions, Hogneland said.
14 people rescued
“Argos Georgia” sent out a distress signal around 9 PM on Monday, prompting a rescue operation.
The crew boarded lifeboats, and since then, the rescue work has focused on locating these lifeboats.
At 5:23 PM on Tuesday, the Main Rescue Center confirmed to NRK that two lifeboats have been located.
– One boat has rescued 13 people from a lifeboat. Another boat has picked up two people. One of these has been confirmed dead, said rescue leader at the Main Rescue Center in Southern Norway, Ståle Jamtli, earlier to NRK.
There were ten Spaniards among the crew. There were no Norwegians on board.
– Terrible that lives have been lost
The Main Rescue Center reports that there is still an ongoing rescue operation in the sea off the Falkland Islands. The weather in the area is challenging.
– There is quite a height to the waves, around ten meters, Jamtli said.
The fishing company Ervik Havfiske on Stadlandet in Vestland owns the ship, which sails under the flag of Saint Helena.
The crew is from Spain, Uruguay, Russia, Peru, and Indonesia.
– There were 27 people on board the ship. None of these are Norwegian citizens, said Robert Ervik, managing director of Ervik Havfiske.
Ervik states that he finds it terrible that lives have been lost.
– The boat is just a hull. It is the people that are important, he said to NRK.
In a Facebook update on Tuesday evening, he wrote that the company will wait with a press release until they have a full overview of the situation.
– Our thoughts and focus are currently on the crew and their families, he wrote.
The government of the Falkland Islands states in a press release that they will thank everyone who contributes to the rescue operation.
– The search and rescue work will continue throughout the night, and the safety of those involved is the most important thing.
Rescue helicopter had to give up search
The distress signal was received by the Norwegian rescue center at around 9 PM on Monday. They then contacted the rescue center in the Falkland Islands, which manages the rescue effort.
The crew has been in the lifeboats since the distress signal came – in extremely challenging weather conditions.
– The weather in the area is terrible. There are wind speeds up to hurricane strength and waves of 7–8 meters, we are informed. It is not possible to get a helicopter out there to help due to the weather, said rescue leader at the Main Rescue Center, Ståle Jamtli, to NRK.
Three vessels and one aircraft are assisting in the rescue operation.
The authorities in the Falkland Islands informed NRK that rescue helicopters have pushed the limits to try to save the crew.
– One SAR helicopter traveled out to extreme ranges on Monday to try to rescue personnel from the sea. But the attempt was unsuccessful due to the challenging weather conditions and limited time before they had to abort and return to land, the authorities wrote to NRK.
After this, the weather worsened further and searches with helicopters were suspended.
On Tuesday morning, the first fishing vessel arrived at the location where the boat sank and has begun searching for survivors.
Fishing in the South Atlantic
The rescue operation is taking place around 370 kilometers east of the archipelago’s capital, Stanley.
The boat was built in Turkey in 2018. It fishes year-round for toothfish in the Ross Sea and around South Georgia in the South Atlantic.
“Argos Georgia” is 54 meters long and 13 meters wide.
The company Argos Frøyanes operates the boat.
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