MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Falkland Islands: Weekly Penguin News update

Back: L-R: Morrison (FI) bricky Ross and Gen Manager Loosley; Middle: Ex Marines G Pring, Clement and Kidd

Headlines: Historic rock arrives at memorial; Monte mishap causes Norwegian Dream to cancel; Access to remote islands restricted.

Historic rock arrives at memorialA BLOCK of Falklands stone that will hold the centre piece of a monument to mark the Royal Marine Corps' long association with the Falklands was helicoptered in to the Stanley Triangle on Thursday. Commissioned by the Royal Marine Association (Falklands), the piece came from Saunders Island and was selected by the island's owner, David Pole-Evans. The first Royal Marines to the Falkland Islands were part of the naval expedition which arrived in Port Egmont on Saunders Island in 1765and the rock was selected from near the first known landing place A brass plaque will be placed on the stone. Morrison worker Alan Ross with Peter Villagos, assisting, have completed the base stonework. With the arrival of the Saunders rock they can move ahead and finish the work. The Brintel Inernational helicopter was piloted by two ex Royal Marines, Terry Murphy and Martin ' Curly' Elstow. Supervising the operation from the back was ex Paratrooper Ron Monte mishap causes Norwegian Dream to cancelLESS than a month after the Explorer sank in Antarctic waters, Falklands cruise ship tourism has taken another knock with cruise ship Norwegian Dreamsuffering damage in the Uruguayan port of Montevideo. Norwegian Dreamhad to miss out Stanley as a port of call this voyage (due to arrive today) after a collision with a barge loaded with containers. The cruise vessel, carrying 1,700 passengers, was leaving the port of Montevideo when it collided with the barge which was 'adrift' in the entrance channel. Norwegian Cruise Line spokeswoman Susan Robison has been reported as saying the overall safety of the vessel was not compromised. The Paraguayan flagged barge also suffered damage and several containers and some vehicles tumbled into the shallow River Plate estuary. The ship remained afloat. Managing Director of Sulivan Shipping in Stanley, John Pollard, confirmed: "As a result of the need to make repairs to the vessel at the same port, Norwegian Dreamwill no longer call at the Falkland Islands or Puerto Madryn as it will need to make up time in order to arrive promptly at Valparaiso in Chile for the passenger turnaround." Sulivan Shipping is the agent for the Norwegian Dream. Two other vessels that regularly visit the Islands, The Marco Polo and the Infinityhave been caught up in the melee. The Infinity was unable to leave the port following the accident and due to the floating containers and the danger from sunken vehicles. For the same reason the Marco Polowas last heard to be waiting to enter the port. Their Falklands schedules are unlikely to be affected, however, as they are not due to visit the islands during their current voyage. Tourist Board General Manager Jake Downing said, "I don't view the incident in Montevideo as a set back for Falkland Islands tourism. "With the growth of the cruise ship market, we would expect, unfortunately, the number of cancellations to increase proportionately with growth. If however we were to start experiencing a string of cancellations due to issues within our control then we should start to be concerned." A fourth 'Falklands visitor' the Clipper Adventurerhas encountered engine trouble during her latest voyage, however, she is not due in the Islands until January 5. Access to remote islands restrictedTHREE island airstrips have had flights restricted solely to "servicing the essential social needs of the islands." This comes as a result of Air Safety Support regulations, confirmed Director of Civil Aviation Andrew Newman. The remote islands of Beaver, West Point and New Island are those most affected by the regulations. Mr Newman explained, "The flight operations regulator for FIGAS is Air Safety Support International (ASSI) in the UK. As part of their regulatory audits they have been assessing the criteria that FIGAS apply to operate the Islander aircraft into camp airstrips, specifically those that are of a marginal nature due to locations, runway length, slope and obstacles. "The Falkland Islands Government and FIGAS have always imposed limitations to this type of airstrip. Additionally FIGAS operate the aircraft in a manner which provides the best possible safety margins such as weight restrictions, weather conditions, runway surface conditions etc. "However ASSI have identified the three island airstrips as requiring flights to be restricted solely to servicing the essential social needs of the islands. These restrictions will continue at least until late January 2008 when ASSI will be undertaking an independent audit of those three airstrips. "During this time the limitations imposed to operate to marginal airstrips must be strictly adhered to." Dion Poncet of Beaver Island said he very much hoped that the situation would result in a report on all three strips aimed at, "...finding out what can be done to improve them." He said he understood the restrictive regulations were a last ditch attempt to keep the strips open, "â€Ã‚¦but it's ridiculous to say it is OK to be killed on that airstrip it you live there." He added, "Basically this means we've had our social life reduced to zero." By-electionManifestos inside - turn to pages 6 and 7