MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Second Fishing Trawler Still “Aground”.
Desperate efforts are being made off the remote Island of South Georgia to save the Falklands registered fishing vessel, 'Lyn' (1,034 gross registered tonnes) which was driven onto rocks, at the entrance to Moraine Fjord, during hurricane force winds late on Wednesday night.
38 of the 44 crew members, a mixture of Spanish officers, Peruvian, Chilean and Indonesians, have been successfully taken off the trawler, with a skeleton crew of just 6 remaining onboard. 'Water has been detected in the engine room of the vessel, while there is now a considerable amount of water in the holds. At the moment the pumps are able to cope with the intake of water'.
An attempt to free the 'Lyn' using two other trawlers, the 'Viking Bay' and the 'Tierra del Fuego' in a combined towing mission, failed. Now the 6 men will throw overboard around 180 tonnes of bait and stone weights used to hold down the fishing lines. It is hoped that this action might lighten the ship sufficiently to allow floating on the next high tide. 'It is hoped that this action might lighten the ship sufficiently to allow the Falklands patrol vessel 'Sigma' to pull the stricken 'Lyn' off the rocks on a high tide, very early on Saturday morning.
However a decision has been taken to dispatch the tug, 'Typhoon' from the Falklands (800 miles north-west of South Georgia), but it is likely to be 4 days before the vessel reaches the remote Island.
Tom Blake who manages Eurofishing, owners of the 'Lyn', said, 'a priority will be to take off as much fuel oil as possible in order to reduce any environmental impact to the region'. There is a colony of around one million King penguins in the area, plus a multitude of other valuable wild-life.
Originally 3 three vessels were blown onto the beach in the Moraine Fjord. The 'Viking Bay' managed to free herself, but the Korean vessel, 'Moresko 1' is firmly wedged on a rock, and all the crew have been rescued and taken to King Edward Point, where the South Georgia & South Sandwich Islands administrator, and a small group of British scientists live.
Mr. Blake said that concern was now growing for the future of the 'Lyn', which is worth around £2.5 millions, but he hoped that she would survive the battering from the high winds and seas, until the tug 'Typhoon' was able to reach South Georgia to assist.
All three fishing vessels are licenced to catch Toothfish in the waters around South Georgia, and at the time that the hurricane force winds hit the area, were heading into King Edward Point for a pre-liecence inspection. Should the 'Lyn' be successfully re-floated, then the plan is to take the vessel immediately to the Uruguayan capital Montevideo where an urgent inspects of the hull will take place.
The Toothfish season opened on 1 May.
Patrick Watts (MP) Stanley.
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