Norwegian-owned fishing vessel ‘Argos Georgia’ in distress near Falkland Islands – NRK Vestland

The Argos Georgia fishing vessel sent out an emergency message on Monday afternoon near the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic.

The boat is taking on water.

The main rescue center informed NRK that the ship had sunk.

– The crew managed to get into lifeboats and life rafts, but we don’t know what their condition is, Ståle Jamtli, rescue manager at the main rescue center in southern Norway, said.

No crew reports

The fishing company based in Stadlandet, Westland, owns the vessel, which flies the St. Helena flag.

– We don’t quite know what’s going on. Robert Ervik, managing director of Ervik Havfiske, said this could have a silver lining.

There were 27 people on board, none of whom were Norwegian citizens, Elvik said.

– We have no reports on the crew, Elvik said.

The rescue helicopter had to abandon the search

At 9pm on Monday, the Norwegian rescue centre received an emergency signal. They then contacted the Falkland Islands rescue centre, which was in charge of managing the rescue effort.

The crew had been in the lifeboat since the distress signal was sent and weather conditions were extremely adverse.

– The weather in the area was bad. We were told there were hurricane-force winds and 7-8 meter high waves. Jamtli told NRK that due to the weather, it was not possible to send a helicopter for rescue.

Three ships and one aircraft assisted in the rescue operation.

Falkland Islands authorities told NRK that rescue helicopters had made every effort to try to rescue the crew.

– On Monday, a search and rescue helicopter set out at an extreme range to try to rescue people from the sea. But the attempt was unsuccessful due to bad weather conditions and the short time left before it had to be canceled and returned to land, authorities wrote to NRK.

The helicopter search was then called off as the weather worsened.

The first fishing boat arrived at the wreck site on Tuesday morning and began searching for survivors.

South Atlantic Fisherman

The rescue operation is underway about 370 kilometres east of the islands’ capital, Stanley.

The vessel was built in Turkey in 2018. She fishes for toothfish year-round in the Ross Sea and around South Georgia Island in the South Atlantic.

The Argos Georgia is 54 meters long and 13 meters wide.

The ship is operated by Argos Froyanes.