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Lan has 32 Antarctica over flights scheduled; EU certification for coastal fishing industry; Opening of refurbished Cabo de Hornos hotel; Magallanes rookeries open for the season; Argentine bill to sanction long term Falklands' licences; Fishermen demand oil spill compensation.

Lan has 32 Antarctica over flights scheduled

Lan Chile has scheduled 32 Antarctic tourist over flights between November 2005 and March 2006, a similar number to last season, reported Paola Contardo the Chilean flag carrier Punta Arenas manager Paola Contardo. The whole trip takes three hours with over flying King George Island involving thirty minutes since the rest is time consumed getting there and back to Punta Arenas. Ms. Contardo pointed out that the trips are charter contracts from specific tourism operators usually linked to the different tours offered to cruise vessel visitors calling in Punta Arenas. Besides since the aircraft does not land in Antarctica only window seats are booked with a maximum of 46.

EU certification for coastal fishing industry

The Magallanes chapter of the Chilean Fisheries Office has warned that vessels operating in coastal waters and which are suppliers for fish processing plants certified by the European Union must comply with certain new requirements. University of Chile Fisheries Department inspectors will be responsible for ensuring that coastal fishing vessels comply with the sanitary conditions requested by the EU. The deadline for the vessel certification is December 15. As of that date fisheries plants working for the EU market can only contract with coastal vessels that have been certified. A further step will be the creation of a registry of EU certified supply vessels.

Opening of refurbished Cabo de Hornos Hotel

One of the most outstanding buildings of Punta Arenas, Hotel Cabo de Hornos was reopened last week after undergoing extensive refurbishing demanding over seven million US dollars. Australis Hotels Ltd. CEO Pedro Lecaros said the renewed Cabo de Hornos will again have the splendor of the sixties becoming "not only Punta Arenas number one hotel but Patagonia's outstanding landmark". Reforms involved not only the infrastructure such as piping, electricity, lifts, kitchen and catering but all the rooms and bathrooms. "We're very happy to have concluded the renewal when the season is beginning. We are looking forward to a most promising season and it's particularly encouraging that neighbouring officials and business people came to the inauguration party", added Mr. Lecaros. "The development of Patagonia is a joint task of Chileans and Argentines; there's no such thing as Argentine tourism or Chilean tourism. We must complement each other, our road system, air and sea links are increasingly intertwined and when people talk of Patagonia they must refer to the whole region covering Argentina and Chile". The Argentine delegation included Santa Cruz province governor Sergio Acevedo, other regional officials and businessmen linked to the tourism industry. Mr. Lecaros revealed that the company is also looking to further expand in Tierra del Fuego.

Magallanes rookeries open for the season

November 22 opens one of Magallanes Region main tourist attractions: Magdalena island rookery full of Magellan penguins only accessible by sea. The vessel "Melinka" will be leaving Punta Arenas Tuesday, Thursday and Saturdays at 16:00 hours with fares costing 30 US dollars for adults and 15 US dollars for children. Bilingual guides' service is included. Magdalena Island is located in the Magellan strait, 52 degrees 51' South and 70 degrees 34' West 36 kilometres to the north of Punta Arenas. The rookery congregates one of largest numbers of Magellan penguins at hatching time. Another rookery 75 kilometres from Punta Arenas in Seno Otway opened in mid October having attracted so far an estimated 2.000 people, reports the Punta Arenas press, which is similar to last year. Seno Otway is accessible by land and can be visited between 8 in the morning and 8 in the night until March 30/2006. Walking paths and sight seeing towers have been organized to better protect the environment and less disturb the penguins. Access to the Seno Otway rookery costs 6 US dollars per capita. According to the land owners in the area the number of visitors peaks in January and February.

Argentine bill to sanction long term Falklands' licences

A bill rejecting long term fishing licencing in the Falkland Islands as well as sanctions for companies operating on both sides of the South Atlantic was presented in the Argentine Senate by Tierra del Fuego Senator Mario Domingo Daniele. The Senator belonging to the ruling Justicialista party and a former mayor of the City of Ushuaia said the project rejecting the 25 years licences issued by the Malvinas government in surrounding waters has been presented in the framework of Britain's unilateral decision which generates a "jurisdiction and sovereignty" conflict. The bill proposes sanctions for those companies operating in the "Malvinas zone" with licences issued by Argentina and "United Kingdom" (Falklands). However the bill which ratifies Argentina's legitimate rights over the Islands is not intended to impair the Malvinas sovereignty "peaceful solution".

Fishermen demand oil spill compensation

A 21 million US dollars compensation claim was presented by coastal fishermen from northern Chile against the owners of the Hong Kong flagged cargo vessel "Eider" which experienced a serious oil spill. The complainants argue the oil spill ruined extensive coastal fisheries for the Villarica cove cooperative next to Antofagasta and since the accident have been unable to earn a living. The number of fishermen who signed the claim totalled 285. Chile's National Emergency Office has begun weekly distributions of basic food baskets among 237 families given the magnitude of the contamination disaster.