MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Pardelhas to be struck off Falklands Registrar.

Pardelhas Fishing Company which is registered in the Falkland Islands and is involved in several legal disputes in Punta Arenas will be struck off the list of registered companies in the Islands, reported this Wednesday the Falkland Islands Broadcasting Station, FIBS.

Punta Arenas press reported this week that two vessels owned by Pardelhas Fishing Company could be seized and auctioned off after a court ruling that the company owes 165,000 US dollars to maritime agent Ultramar.

The Pardelhas and Almourol have spent the last two years virtually abandoned in Punta Arenas, where they remain retained pending lawsuits by several crewmembers who are demanding unpaid salaries and other benefits.

In July 14 of last year the captain and crew abandoned the Pardelhas and both vessels are now next to Isabel island with damaged engines and grounded. Falklands' Registrar John Rowland quoted by FIBS said that the company will be struck off the list of registered companies next October after the local director and the secretary resigned earlier this year.

The remaining company directors, who are Portuguese, haven't answered any correspondence from the Registrar General since March. Mr. Rowland said that there is a provision under Falklands' law for companies to be removed from the register if this happens.