MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Antarctic cruise passengers rescued and oil leak contained

All aboard a cruise ship stranded off Antarctica are “in perfect health” and 87 (82 passengers and 5 crew members) have been rescued reported on Friday the Chilean Navy. The rest of the crew remained on board to help with rescue operations.

The Panamanian-flagged Ushuaia was carrying 89 passengers and 33 crew members Thursday when it struck ice and began to take on water and lose fuel, the Argentine navy reported earlier. The ship is owned by an Argentine company. Two helicopters and two Chilean navy ships were dispatched to the scene to assist, though the Ushuaia was never in danger of sinking, the Chilean navy said. Passengers were transferred to the Achilles, the first ship to arrive, which carried them toward the Chilean Antarctic base Eduardo Frei, the navy added. An Argentine Air Force Hercules has been dispatched to pick up the passengers and fly them to the city of Ushuaia in Tierra del Fuego. This is expected to happen Saturday. The crew aboard the Chilean navy's Lautaro, the second ship to reach the crippled Ushuaia, was working to stem the fuel leak which has spilt over a radius of a kilometer but is being contained. According to the Argentine navy the Ushuaia was aground on rocks in the Guillermina Bay between the Argentine summer stations Brown and Primavera to the northeast of the Antarctic Peninsula. More specifically according to the Chilean navy the Ushuaia hull is sitting on three points of a rock and is a meter from the sea bed. However rudder and propellers are intact and at one meter from the sea bed.