MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Breaking News from the Coast.

Caledonian Star in Ushuaia

Bahamas flagged cruise vessel Caledonian Star managed this week to limp into Ushuaia escorted by the Argentine Navy, after having undergone gales of over 120 miles and fifteen meters waves in the South Atlantic. The Caledonian Star sailing 200 miles from Tierra del Fuego with 115 tourists and a crew of 77, was surprised by a storm that smashed windows and flooded the bridge leaving the vessel without electricity and virtually drifting for several hours. Radio contact was established with Argentine fishing vessels and the Argentine SAR command in Ushuaia that immediately sent help. Once energy was restored, the 3.000 tons displacement and 90 meters long vessel begun sailing manually, (the electronic gear was dead), followed closely by the Argentine Navy. Ushuaia's harbour master José María de Berdecci remarked that only an experienced captain as Karl Lampe could cope with such a delicate and extreme situation, "no navigation instruments, no communications, no energy in the bridge and the lives of 200 people in his hands". Once in Ushuaia passengers were flown off to Buenos Aires and their country of origin, mainly United States, Canada and Britain. This is the third cruise vessel in recent months that has undergone similar problems, first was the "Clipper Adventurer" and just a few weeks ago the "Bremen", that was escorted all the way to Buenos Aires. Argentine Coast Guard sources indicated that storms of this intensity are not uncommon during this time of the year, and that the growing number of cruise vessels in the area increases the incidence of these accidents. "These a are difficult waters; four years ago fifteen passenger vessels cruised the area, this season has not yet finished and the number has increased to 65", underlined Oscar Arce, head of the Argentine Coast Guard Operations Department.

Dining with Prince Charles

For the first time since 1981, Prince Charles participated this week in an informal dinner in the Argentine Embassy in London organised to honour the recently launched first novel of an Anglo-Argentine writer closely linked to the royal family. According to the Argentine press, the social occasion in th