Stories for September 2013

Tuesday, September 17th 2013 - 06:34 UTC
Italian engineers manage to set Costa Concordia upright 20 months after grounding

Engineers in Italy have succeeded in setting the cruise ship Costa Concordia upright, 20 months after it ran aground off the island of Giglio. They said that the unprecedented salvage effort ”reached degree zero (vertical), which was our target”.
Tuesday, September 17th 2013 - 05:03 UTC
Punta Arenas expects 58.000 visitors and 103 calls this coming cruise season

An estimated 58.000 visitors have been confirmed for this coming 2013/14 cruise season at the extreme south Chile cities of Punta Arenas and Puerto Natales, although the overall number is slightly less than the 62.000 of this last season according to Epaustral, the Austral Port Corporation.
Monday, September 16th 2013 - 22:05 UTC
Chile’s latest scientific vessel on a hake spawning research cruise in the extreme south

Chile latest fisheries scientific research vessel ‘Cabo de Hornos’ has completed a month long cruise in the southern coast of the country collecting information on three different type of hake spawning, something which hadn’t been done since at least 1996, according to the country’s fisheries officials.
Monday, September 16th 2013 - 22:02 UTC
Vigo starts bio-bank to store commercial fisheries marine parasite samples

The Marine Research Institute from Vigo, Spain has launched the first world bio-bank which collects, stores and will distribute samples of marine parasites and associated bio-molecules such as the anisakis, in the framework of the EU ‘Parasite’ project to assess their sanitary and commercial impact on the food chain and validation of tools to mitigate effects.
Monday, September 16th 2013 - 21:57 UTC
Spanish scientists discover new marine worm that feeds on whale bones

Spanish scientists from the University of Barcelona and the Oceanographic Institute have discovered in Antarctica a new species of worm, a marine invertebrate which feeds on whale bones. The discovery is in the framework of the Actiquim-II project and the new species was baptized “Osedax deceptionensis”.
Monday, September 16th 2013 - 01:32 UTC
Colombia denies registry of the ‘Escobar’ trademark to family members

Colombia’s government has refused registration as a trademark of the full name “Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria” the country most notorious narcotics criminal. According to local news in Bogotá the application was filed by Maria Isabel Santos Cabalerro, Juana Manuela Marroquín Santos and Juan Sebastian Marroquín Santos, Escobar’s widow and children respectively who changed their names after settling in Argentina in the late 1990.
Monday, September 16th 2013 - 01:29 UTC
Leading Spanish bank ready to lend 10bn dollars for infrastructure in Brazil

Following a meeting with President Dilma Rousseff, Banco Santander Chairman Emilio Botin said that the Spanish bank has 10 billion dollars available to finance infrastructure projects in Brazil. He also anticipated that loan book growth at Banco Santander Brasil SA would be up about 10% in 2013.
Monday, September 16th 2013 - 01:26 UTC
Colombia/Nicaragua maritime dispute reignites, despite International Court ruling

President Juan Manuel Santos presented before Colombia’s constitutional court a demand against the Pact of Bogotá arguing that a recent ruling from the International Court of Justice on a maritime dispute with Nicaragua does not comply with the Colombian constitution.
Monday, September 16th 2013 - 01:25 UTC
Argentine official inflation 0.8% and 6.6% in eight months despite price agreements

Argentina's Consumer Price Index (IPC) was of 0.8% in August, according to the INDEC statistics bureau, totalling 6.6% this year. Price hikes were mainly seen in food and beverage, household equipment and maintenance sectors. Meanwhile, entertainment costs went down in August.
Monday, September 16th 2013 - 01:21 UTC
Uruguay’s economy expands 5.6% in second quarter helped by hydroelectric production

Uruguay's economy expanded 5.6% in the second quarter compared with the same period a year earlier and 2.1% compared with the first three months of this year, the central bank said in its quarterly report.