International
At least three dead in the fishing vessel sunk in the Falkland Islands with Galician crew members
At least three crew members have died in the accident of the fishing boat ‘Argos Georgia’, which sank in the Malvinas Islands on Monday, according to the Government Delegation in Galicia.
According to information transferred by the maritime authorities of the Falklands to the Spanish ones, the fishing boat ‘Puerto Toro’ has recovered two corpses and the ‘Robin M. Lee’, based in Cangas (Pontevedra), has rescued a survivor and a lifeless body.
Currently, operations are being carried out to recover the survivors of another life raft.
The bad weather conditions in the area have prevented the takeoff of helicopters for the rescue, a decision that is reviewed every hour in case there is a possibility of the aircraft operating, and have also hindered the tasks of the fishing vessels that have come to the aid of the crew of the ‘Argos Georgia’.
In the area, in addition to the two fishing boats, a patrol boat and a plane are deployed.
The ship, as it has transpired, would carry Russian, Indonesian, Uruguayan and Peruvian crew members.
The Maritime Authority of the Falkland Islands received information on Monday afternoon that the fishing boat, with 27 people on board, requested assistance about 200 miles east of Stanley.
Ten Spaniards were on board the fishing boat Argos Georgia which, with 27 crew members, including the captain, has sunk in the early hours of the Falkland Islands, the Government delegate in Galicia, Pedro Blanco, has confirmed.
As he told reporters on a visit to Redondela (Pontevedra), he specified that among the ten Spaniards are the captain of the ship, the fishing skipper, the cook, the two machine operators and two oceanographic observers.
Blanco has specified that by the surnames “it seems that there are Galicians” on board, although he is pending to determine how many.
Knowing the facts, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs established “permanent contact” with its consulates in Buenos Aires (Argentina) and London (United Kingdom) to follow the rescue operation of the crew of the sunken fishing vessel. This was confirmed by Minister José Manuel Albares at a press conference.
In addition to the ten Spanish crew members, 8 Russians, 2 Uruguayans, 2 Peruvians and 5 Indonesians were traveling on the ship, according to local media.
The Falkland Islands Maritime Authority received information on Monday that the fishing vessel Argos Georgia requested assistance when it was about 200 miles east of Stanley, the capital of the archipelago.
According to the Malvinas authority, after the ship’s alert and despite the difficult maritime conditions, a rescue operation was carried out with aerial and surface means, including the BFSAI A-400, BFSAI search and rescue helicopters, FPV Lilibet, as well as two fishing boats.
Among those trawlers who have come to the rescue, in fact, there is one from Cangas (Pontevedra), although belonging to a mixed society, according to sources from the Government Subdelegation in Pontevedra.
Blanco added in his appearance that the crew members made use of the lifeboats.
According to this statement from the Falkland authorities, communications were quickly established between the Government of the Islands, the Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, the headquarters of the British Forces in the South Atlantic Islands, the United Kingdom Maritime and Coast Guard Agency, the fishing vessel company and other vessels.
The Argos Georgia, built in 2018, belongs to the British-Norwegian shipowner Argos Froyanes, with more than 30 years of experience in the fishing sector.
After the first operation, the Government of the Falkland Islands announced that it will resume the rescue of the 27 crew members of the sunken ship when the weather improves.
According to a statement, the BFSAI A-400M Atlas helicopter was the first to come to the scene and was able to “monitor and report” the position of the lifeboats.
Meanwhile, the fishing vessel FPV Lilibet and two other boats arrived “at the highest speed” at the location last night to begin the “rescue operations.”
Similarly, operating in adverse conditions, a search and rescue helicopter (SAR) of the British military contingent in the Falkland Islands tried to recover the personnel from the scene during the night of Monday “without success”, due to “extreme weather conditions and limited time.”
The helicopter returned to Stanley airport to refuel before a second attempt, “but the weather got even worse” and the rescue operations were then suspended, according to the note.
The weather conditions on Tuesday imply that the area is still “out of the limits” of helicopter operations, but “the situation is being reviewed regularly with a view to resuming operations as soon as possible.”
International
Trump criticizes Panama Canal fees and demands U.S. control over strategic waterway
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump criticized what he described as unfair fees imposed on American ships passing through the Panama Canal and threatened to demand that Washington take back control of the strategic waterway.
“Our Navy and commerce have been threatened in a very unjust and reckless way. The rates that Panama charges are ridiculous,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
The president-elect also denounced the growing influence of China in the canal, a situation he called concerning as U.S. businesses depend on the waterway to transport goods between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
“This complete scam against our country will end immediately,” he stated.
The Panama Canal, completed by the United States in 1914, was handed over to Panama under the 1977 treaty signed by Democratic President Jimmy Carter. Panama took full control of the commercial passage in 1999.
“It was exclusively for Panama to manage, not China or anyone else,” Trump said. “We would never allow it to fall into the wrong hands!”
“If Panama cannot guarantee a ‘safe, efficient, and reliable’ operation of the canal, we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us in its entirety, without a doubt,” the Republican added.
Panamanian authorities did not immediately respond to Trump’s statements. While he will assume office on January 20, Trump has been exerting his political influence in the final days of President Joe Biden’s administration.
Five percent of global maritime trade passes through the Panama Canal, which allows vessels traveling from Asia to the U.S. East Coast to avoid the long and dangerous route around the southern tip of South America.
The countries that use the Panama Canal the most are the United States, China, Japan, and South Korea.
In October, the Panama Canal Authority reported earnings of nearly $5 billion in the last fiscal year.
International
Putin vows retaliation following drone attack on luxury building in Kazan
Russian President Vladimir Putin promised more “destruction” in Ukraine on Sunday, in response to a drone strike that hit a residential building in the city of Kazan, located in central Russia, on Saturday.
Russia accused Ukraine of launching a “massive” drone attack, which struck a luxury apartment block in Kazan, about 1,000 kilometers from the border.
Videos shared on Russian social media show drones hitting a high-rise glass building. No casualties have been reported as a result of the attack.
In his statements, Putin addressed the local leader of Tatarstan, the region where Kazan is located, during a virtual ceremony marking the opening of a road.
The attack in Kazan is the latest in a series of increasingly frequent bombings in this nearly three-year-old conflict. Ukraine has not commented on the attack.
Putin had previously threatened to strike the center of Kyiv with a hypersonic ballistic missile in response to Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory.
The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that the recent Russian strikes on Ukrainian energy facilities were retaliation for Ukraine’s use of Western-supplied missiles to target Russian territory.
International
Small plane crashes in Gramado, Brazil, killing nine people
At least nine people were killed on Sunday after a small aircraft crashed in a commercial area of the tourist city of Gramado, in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, authorities confirmed.
“There are nine confirmed deaths according to Civil Defense services, and there are no survivors from the plane,” said Cléber dos Santos Lima, director of the Interior Police Department of the Civil Police of the state, in a statement to AFP.
Authorities have not yet confirmed the exact number of passengers and crew aboard the aircraft, a turbo-prop Piper Cheyenne 400. However, Civil Defense had previously stated that “preliminarily, the plane was carrying ten people.”
The plane crashed on Sunday morning “into the chimney of a building, then onto the second floor of a house, and finally fell onto a furniture store,” according to a statement from the Rio Grande do Sul Public Security Secretariat.
Trump criticizes Panama Canal fees and demands U.S. control over strategic waterway
Putin vows retaliation following drone attack on luxury building in Kazan
Small plane crashes in Gramado, Brazil, killing nine people
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