Shipwreck in the Falklands | Crew members of the “Argos Georgia” wait in life rafts to be rescued by the Vigo ship “Robin M. Lee” in rough seas

The greatest tension in the waters of the Malvinas. Crew members of the fishing boat “Argos Georgia”, 54 meters long and 13 meters wide, and which, as announced by the FARO, has suffered a massive leak 200 miles east of the British Islesawait their rescue in life rafts by the ship “Robin M. Lee”.

The fishing vessel had requested assistance late Monday night, when its AIS issued the last signal, and air and sea rescue resources have already been dispatched to the area. About the status of 27 teamsA good part of them Galician, Salvamento Maritimo, has confirmed that they are in life rafts, although without specifying whether all or part of the crew.

From Salvamento, he said that the “Robin M. Lee” – a freezer trawler owned by the Vigo company Lafonia and captained by Jorge Sampedro from Bueo – is already close to the raft, however, he stressed that at the moment the area has “very rough sea conditions”, which gives an idea of ​​the complexity of the rescue operation.

“There are 35 knots of winds and waves up to 6 meters high,” captains of the Galician fleet in the Malvinas told FARO. “It will be very difficult to collect them,” they say. The last time an AIS signal was issued was at midnight this Monday, the crew members could stay inside the rafts for more than nine hours.

Apart from the “Robin M. Lee” there are currently two other ships carrying out the same mission of rescuing the victims: they are the “Puerto Toro” and the “Lilibet”.

Drowning

Regarding the status of the fishing vessel, “it appears” that it had sunk, although this point “has not yet been confirmed” while operating off the Malvinas, the same sources explained.

The resources deployed by the Malvinas Government to help “Argos Georgia” also include an Airbus A400 and helicopters.

Argos Georgia was built in 2018 at the Tersan shipyard in the Turkish city of Yalova, now one of the most powerful in Europe. Flagged in Santa Elena, the fishing vessel, specialized in longlining, The ship is owned by Argos Froynes. Its connection with the Galician industry is capital, both on a personal level and in business relations. He was going fishing when the state of emergency was declared.