MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Breaking News from Pta. Arenas.

Headlines:
Hefty “bail” for tanker involved in fuel spill; Over 30,000 Chileans in Argentine Patagonia; Punta Arenas confirms 30 hepatitis cases.

Hefty "bail" for tanker involved in fuel spill

A Punta Arenas appeal court imposed a retention ruling, equivalent to four million US dollars, against French flagged tanker "Berge Nice" involved in an oil spill in the Magellan Strait, close to Punta Areans early May which contaminated ten kilometres of vital fisheries for coastal operators and local processing plants. "Berge Nice", launched last October is a state of the art natural gas tanker which last May 12 was involved in a collision with a high seas tug "Seacor-Laredo", spilling several tons of fuel and suffering a wide twenty meters long gash, three meters above the water line. The tug's bow was flattened and three crewmembers suffered serious injuries. The tanker transporting 33,000 tons of Argentine liquid propane gas underwent emergency repairs in Punta Arenas with special heat proven steel plates flown in from Japan and is now in Talcahuano's main shipyard after having unloaded. The high seas tug is still in Asmar's shipyard. Punta Arenas press reports that besides the private demand and retention ruling equivalent to four million US dollars, both vessels, under Chilean law, also have been forced to a precautionary bank guarantee equivalent to 600,000 US dollars each to cover environmental damage and clearing operations occurred as a consequence of the collision. The Chilean Navy investigation into the accident has yet to be concluded.

Over 30,000 Chileans in Argentine Patagonia

Over 30,000 Chileans reside in Patagonia according to the latest census from the Chilean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Statistics Institute. Actually Argentina is the country with the largest Chilean population overseas, 161,286. The registry indicates that 8,461 Chileans live in Comodoro Rivadavia; 9,876 in Río Gallegos and 7,710 in Rio Grande with another 5,000 in Ushuaia, Argentine Tierra del Fuego capital city. Most of these Patagonia migrants came from neighbouring Magallanes Region. However it is the provinces of Mendoza, Neuquén and Buenos Aires that have attracted most Chileans in Argentina. According to the Chilean overseas population report most Chileans in Patagonia have been long established in the area and therefore are an ageing group, since Magallanes Chileans no longer seem attracted by Argentine Patagonia. An additional report from the Chilean consul in Ushuaia, Raul Sanhueza indicates that most Chileans arrived in the eighties taking advantage of the Argentine Patagonia promotion laws which attracted industry and assembly plants to the area. The report also points out that Chileans in Patagonia easily integrated and face the same problems as the local population. Another interesting fact is that contrary to the original migration of several decades when most Chileans were labourers, those who cross the border and establish themselves in Argentina Patagonia are highly qualified and educated, and linked or contracted by Chilean companies investing in southern Argentina. As to the main hurdles Chileans face the report signals the complexity of bureaucratic paperwork demanded to obtain definitive residence in Argentina. The Latinamerican registry of Chileans was elaborated with the help of the consulates in the different countries.

Punta Arenas confirms 30 hepatitis cases

Magallanes Region Epidemiology Unit in Punta Arenas confirmed 30 cases of Hepatitis A, most of them among school children. Even when the A strain is the mildest and with the quickest recovery, Punta Arenas health authorities are concerned since in 2003 the total number of hepatitis cases was 50 and in the first five months of 2004, 30. Children of several schools with outbreaks have been vaccinated, but health officials insist that the best prevention are efficient sanitary measures such as washing hands before meals or having contact with food, and after going to the toilet. Eduardo Velázquez from Punta Arenas Epidemiology Unit called on consumers and food suppliers to extreme measures handling produce, "for example when buying bread, attendants should wear gloves and coif". Hepatitis in Chile is endemic and among several reasons mentioned by authorities are insufficient sewage systems and farmers' use of unprocessed water for irrigation.