Panamanian tourist ship stranded in Antarctica
5/12/2008 16:30
A small Panamanian tourist ship was stranded in Antarctica yesterday after
hitting a rock near Arwski Peninsula in the south extreme of the Chilean
territory.
"This is a regrettable accident and the circumstances of how it
occurred are not clear yet," Chilean army official Carlos Palacio
said.
Weather conditions at the time of the accident were reportedly not
good.
The Ushuaia started sailing in Argentina with 89 passenger and 33 crew
members on broad.
Argentine Admiral Daniel Martin said the ship lay about 300
km southwest of an Argentine military base on the Antarctic Peninsula.
The
army began rescue operations after receiving signals that the stranded ship had
a minimum water entrance and loss of fuel.
The passengers and crew members on
board "are not in danger" and they were "following the contingency plan,"
Captain Jorge Aldeguerri said.
A passenger vessel has been dispatched to the
scene to assist the tourist ship, the army said.
Xinhua
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