Longliner Sinks off Falklands, Leaving Crew Adrift in Extreme Weather

 

The crew of a modern freezer-longliner were forced to abandon ship off the coast of the Falkland Islands yesterday, and local accounts report that at least six lost their lives in "extremely challenging" weather conditions before they could be rescued. 

On Sunday, the 2018-built fishing vessel Argos Georgia got underway from Port Stanley and headed out to her fishing grounds with 27 crewmembers on board. On Monday afternoon, she reported a serious flooding incident at a position about 200 miles to the east of the port. As rescue assets mobilized to the scene, the situation on board deteriorated, and the crew was forced to abandon ship into their life rafts. The vessel sank after they departed. 

The British Forces South Atlantic Islands (BFSAI) responded by launching a long-range search aircraft, which located the rafts and kept watch on their position. A fisheries patrol vessel and two Good Samaritan fishing vessels also diverted to assist. The BFSAI attempted to launch a helicopter rescue mission later that night, but the flight had to be canceled because of severe and worsening weather conditions. Argentine outlet InfoBae reports that significant wave heights were as high as 25 feet. 

According to Spanish media, multiple crewmembers died in the accident. A Falkland Islands patrol vessel rescued 13 crewmembers from one raft, and a Good Samaritan fishing vessel rescued one survivor and recovered one deceased crewmember from a second raft. Five other bodies were recovered, making six fatalities and 14 survivors in total. Seven crewmembers remain missing. 

The Falkland Islands government has not confirmed the details of the rescue operation, but said in a statement Tuesday that "a number" of crewmembers had been rescued. The search for the missing is still under way. 

Argos Georgia was a 160-foot freezer longliner built in Turkey and operated by an Argentine company. She was involved in the Patagonian toothfish fishery off South Georgia, and ten of her crewmembers were Spanish nationals from the Galician fishing industry, according to EFE. 

"In these difficult times, the Committee on Fisheries offers its solidarity with the Galician people, so closely linked to the fishing sector and from which several of the missing crew members of the ship Argos Georgia come," said EP Committee on Fisheries chair Carmen Crespo. "This accident highlights the harshness of fishing activity and the sacrifice and risk that sea professionals experience."