MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Salvaged “Holberg” towed to Montevideo for repairs

Mariana Rojamar II ready to pull Holberg to Montevideo<br><i> (Photo by FIGAS)

The Uruguayan flagged scallop trawler “Holberg” which ran aground in the Falkland Islands and was later re-floated by a team of divers from the Uruguayan Navy finally arrived in Montevideo over the weekend, towed by the “Mariana Rojamar II”.

Last November 5, Holberg ran aground in Port Purvis, West Falklands while trawling for scallop and ended lying on her port side about a hundred meters from the shore. All thirty crew members and two observers managed to abandon the vessel but she was also carrying over 200 tons of marine fuel and lubricants, and low quantities of diesel fuel begun leaking with an oil slick gradually extending a mile long. The owners of the vessel Fripur, one of Uruguay's main fishing corporations, tried to contract a local company to help contain the leak and rescue the vessel, but ended having to call a divers' team from the Uruguayan Navy that arrived in the Islands in mid December. Eighteen days later; January first, they had completed the task in spite of several days of adverse climate conditions. The divers' team arrived in another Uruguayan flagged trawler, "Mariana Rojamar II" which was then used to tow the later stabilized Holberg back to Montevideo. The vessel's re-flotation and salvage with significant minimum pollution was described as "extremely good news" by Falklands Fisheries Director, John Barton. The Falklands' Environmental Planning Officer Dominique Giudicelli commented that "the salvage of the Holberg has been conducted in a very professional manner and to high environmental standards by the salvage crew aboard Mariana Rojamar II" "There should be few long-term environmental effects on the Port Purvis environment from the wrecking of the Holberg", added Giudicelli. The news of the salvage and stabilization of the Holberg was headlines in Uruguay