MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Breaking News from Pta. Arenas.

Headlines:
Seismic survey begins in Tierra del Fuego; Chile targets liquid natural gas terminal; New Chilean cruise vessel “Antarctic Dream”; Sustainable tourism forum in Punta Arenas; Marine bird protection from long lining; Joint Chilean-Argentine naval exercises.

Seismic survey begins in Tierra del Fuego.

An advance team from the US company Veritas is in Tierra del Fuego ready to begin 3D seismic surveying for natural gas in the lake Mercedes area on contract from Chile's government oil company ENAP. Simultaneously ENAP is preparing to start drilling an exploratory well before the end of 2004. "Topographers from Veritas are occupied marking the area to begin the 3 D survey and our people are involved designing the characteristics of the exploratory well to be drilled in Lake Mercedes" said ENAP's Exploration and Production Manager Danilo Martic after meeting with Punta Arenas mayor Jaime Jelincic. Mr. Martic revealed that ENAP is planning exploratory drilling working with previous data and the preliminary results of Veritas seismic survey. "We're not going to wait for the final interpretation of seismic data collected because the contract with Veritas contemplates that an on filed preliminary interpretation will help us determine where to drill the exploratory well", indicated ENPAP official. Actually ENAP is betting on an existent sealed natural gas well and the new data since the technical department of the company are convinced that there's "abundant gas in the Magallanes basin", particularly in Lake Mercedes. "This preliminary information and an optimistic analysis of the information we have, led us to contract the 3D Veritas seismic survey to better determine exactly where to begin exploratory drilling", added Mr. Martic. "We are all hoping that Lake Mercedes turns out to be the solution for natural gas supply in the region, and possibly at national level", insisted an optimistic Mr. Martic. Veritas has a four million US dollars contract for 3D seismic surveying in an area of 312 square kilometers.

Chile targets liquid natural gas terminal.

A liquid natural gas terminal to ensure Chile's energy independence plus developing all possible domestic resources such as those in Magallanes Region, is the main objective of ENAP, the country's oil company. ENAP's CEO Enrique Dávila who's been in the job for five weeks and last week visited Punta Arenas said his direct instructions from Chilean president Ricardo Lagos were very clear, "a project that can ensure Chile's energy autonomy compensating the supply risks from Argentina", particularly following this year's experience. An economist with a PhD from a British university Mr. Davila and with a long career in ENAP, Mr. Dávila said his new task and instructions means he will have to monitor closely the Exploration and Production departments of the company to ensure the targets are achieved. "We hope to have a clear idea of Magallanes area by the end of the year and this will help us redesign our austral basin policy. Next October we'll also have the capital investment program ready with the carry over and new resources", Mr. Dávila revealed to the Punta Arenas press. "Magallanes is a privileged area since for over half a century it has been Chile's main source of domestic oil and natural gas, and also has a significant refining capacity, so it's only natural that the region will be contemplated with capital projects". Mr. Dávila pointed out that ENAP has more than sufficient refining capacity to supply the domestic market and therefore has been looking for new markets in Peru, (where the company recently purchased Shell assets) and in the south of Argentina. But ENAP's CEO highlighted that his foremost task is the building of a liquid natural gas terminal with medium and long term supply contracts. "We've contracted an investment bank to explore different alternatives and we expect to have sound offers for the building of the liquid natural gas terminal in the second half of 2005", concluded Mr. Davila.

New Chilean cruise vessel "Antarctic Dream"

"Antarctic Dream" is the name of the latest Chilean cruise vessel which will be officially baptized in the Chilean shipyards of Asmar Talcahuano September 30. The former Chilean Navy icebreaker, "Piloto Pardo" belongs to Antarctic Shipping the first Chilean company to cruise to Antarctica with Chilean flagged vessels. The 2,000 tons "Antarctic Dream" is 83 meters long by 11,9, powered by diesel and electric engines with a cruise speed of 10 knots and its own water treatment plant. She has 42 double cabins capacity including two suites in four decks (Cape Horn, Piloto Pardo, Shackleton and Amundsen) plus all the amenities of a moderns cruise liner: gymnasium, sauna, library, Jacuzzi, internet, auditorium, satellite phones, etc. The safety equipment includes four Zodiacs with 20 people capacity each plus a helicopter. Originally built in Holland in 1958, according to Punta Arenas press, "Antarctic Dream" is the vessel with more crossings to Antarctica and Patagonia and was in service with the Chilean Navy until 1997 when she was replaced by a larger icebreaker. She was purchased in 2001 by Antarctic Shipping S.A. and complies with all the environmental and maritime safety (Solas, Marpol, IMO, DGTM) international requirements. "Antarctic Dream" will be operating from Punta Arenas regularly crossing to Antarctica until the end of March.

Sustainable tourism forum in Punta Arenas.

Punta Arenas hosted last week the second Chilean forum on sustainable tourism with the purpose of creating a greater environmental awareness. The event officially named "Sustainable Tourism Accreditation and Certification Systems" was sponsored by the Chilean Production Development Corporation (Corfo), Integral Territorial Program, Sustainable Tourism Patagonia Austral, the governing office of Chilean Antarctic Province, the Sustainable Tourism Certification Office of the Americas (RCTSA) and Eko-Support. "Chile, which for different reasons has been slow in following world tendencies has now opened to vital tourism concepts such as quality and sustainability, which are complementary and must be developed in parallel so that in a reasonable period of time the industry can covert them into a solid, recognized product", said Carlos Leal an international certification expert in sustainable tourism. Another of the lecturers at the conference, Ronald Sanabria who belongs to the Rainforest Sustainable Tourism Alliance and is a coordinator of RCTSA cautioned about the "fragility" of many ecosystems in Chile, and emphasized in a joint public and private effort in the issue. "Sustainable tourism certification processes are a tool which enables the different parties to sit round the same table and agree on defining criteria and establishing bases for the certification", said Mr. Sanabria who added that "it's not the panacea but a tool which with other regulations and/or voluntary attitudes can help in the establishment of a business code in the tourism field". "This has the purpose of ensuring tourism development advances hand on hand with conservation and environmental protection, essential for the sustainability of the industry and the communities involved".

Marine bird protection from long lining

The introduction in Chilean long liners of equipment to help prevent the death of sea birds was considered last week in Punta Arenas during a meeting with fishing companies representatives sponsored by the Chilean Antarctic Institute and Antarctic ecosystem researchers. Jose Retamales, president of the Chilean Antarctic Institute told company representatives that Chile was concerned with the growing number of petrels and albatross killed attracted by long line fishing gear. Sea birds plunge into the sea "for the bait or fish and get tangled with hooks and eventually die", said Mr. Retamales. In line with other countries fishing in the area Chile is determined to combat this type of sea birds losses with the introduction of fishing gear that prevents these accidents, "be it with long lines that drop vertically into the sea or other mechanisms that help to scare the sea birds". "Our objective is to advance until we are in line with long line fishing practices of other vessels operating in Antarctic waters, near Cape Horn and Magallanes region EEZ". According to data from 2001, at least 1,500 petrels and 1,900 black browed albatross were lost during the long line fishing season. According to Mr. Retamales the "companies representatives were very interested with the proposal".

Joint Chilean-Argentine naval exercises.

During five days at the beginning of September, units from the Chilean and Argentine navies will be involved in joint rescue and recovery exercises in the Beagle Channel area. Named "Viekaren VI-2004" the exercise will extend from August 31 to September 4 and will be under the command of the Chilean Naval District of Beagle with Captain Roberto Macchiavello and in coordination with Captain Alberto Cesaretti from the Argentine Austral Naval Area based in Ushuaia. The annual joint exercises that date back to 1998 will involve operational visits to the ports of Ushuaia and Puerto Williams. The Chilean task flotilla will be made up of the high seas tug "Lautaro" and two patrol vessels, "Sibbad" and "Hallef" while the Argentines will participate with the high seas tug "Alferez Sobral", a fast patrol vessel "Intrepida" and a B-200 aircraft belonging to the Ushuaia base. Besides high seas coordinated search and rescue operations the joint flotillas will be involved in communications and contamination emergencies. Basically the main operation will deal with rescuing a merchant vessel transporting contaminating elements and its crew for which a combined effort from both navies is put into action. Next year's exercise will be under the command of the Argentine Navy.