MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Punta Arenas Breaking News.

Headlines:
Cabo de Hornos hotel new owners in March; Fire in Chilean Antarctic base; Ozone concentration “moderately low”; Record year for Torres del Paine Park.

Cabo de Hornos hotel new owners in March.

At the end of March, Hotelera Panamericana will be handing the Punta Arenas Cabo de Hornos Hotel concession to Hoteles Australis Limitada, following an agreement with the owners of the property Empresas Cabo de Hornos S.A. According to La Prensa Austral, Maria Cristica McKay, general manager of Punta Arenas most famous hotel said she had been informed of the changes "last week, but we will continue with "business as usual", as we have been doing for the last ten years of our concession until the end of March". Press reports indicate that the transaction with a contract closing date of March 31 involves approximately 3,2 million US dollars. "For the last ten years of our concession we have regularly made improvements to the building and we're very happy with the regional, national and international positioning we have achieved for the hotel", highlighted Ms. McKay.

Fire in Chilean Antarctic base.

A hangar at the Chilean Antarctic base President Eduardo Frei in King George Island turned into a complete loss following a three hours fire which broke out over the weekend. According to Chilean Civil Aviation authorities the Rescue and Fire department which supports the local landing strip operated from the hangar. Much of the losses were winter equipment stored in the hangar and other supplies for the running of the base. However the landing strip remains operational and a team of experts from the Chilean Civil Aviation are scheduled to arrive this week to asses the situation and begin an official inquiry. A Chilean Air Force Hercules flying from Punta Arenas has already replenished all the equipment and stores lost to the fire. Commander Dennis Harvey, head of the base said this was the first time an incident involving fire has occurred in the base.

Ozone concentration "moderately low".

Ozone concentration was "moderately low" with a "moderate radiation index" during the 2004/05 season critical months according to the annual report from the University of Magallanes in Punta Arenas. Since the spring of 1999, the University of Magallanes keeps daily track of ozone concentration and UV radiation during the critical months extending from September to February in Magallanes Region, particularly Punta Arenas the largest population in the area. The latest 2004/05 report indicates that ozone concentration averaged 303 Dobson Units and UV radiation reached a maximum of seven points. The report which is public and available to all institutions basically follows the evolution of the thinning ozone layer during those critical months when the ozone hole is most intense over Antarctica and the southern cone of the South American continent. Apparently this season the phenomena was described as "moderate", and in the last five years 2000 was the worst when the ozone hole reached a size equivalent to 28,3 million square kilometres. In 2003 it recorded a similar extension. The ozone layer basically "filters" UV rays intensity, and its thinning or absence is extremely harmful for living beings.

Record year for Torres del Paine Park.

A record 98,056 tourists visited Torres del Paine Park in 2004, a 13,4% increase over the previous year, according to the Chilean Forestry Corporation, Conaf. Most visitors were foreign, 73,357 and 99 different nationalities; Chileans represented the rest, 24,699. Among the "leading" nationalities are 9,154 Americas; 9,154 Germans; 8,090 Spaniards; 7,215 British; 6,091 French; 4,616 from Israel and 4,212 Italians. Conaf reports that actually all parks and wildlife protected areas in Magallanes Region experienced a record year in 2004 with 191,271 visitors, 15% above 2003. Top of the list is Torres del Paine followed by Bernardo O'Higgins National Park with 14,334 visitors; penguins monument in Magdalena island, a rookery, with 11,098 visitors and Cueva del Milodón monument which attracted over 50,000 people. Torres del Paine was first opened 1959 and in the seventies had only managed to attract 300/500 people per season. However intense public and private promotion have turned it into a success.