MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Punta Arenas expects to become homeport for an Antarctica cruise line
Punta Arenas in the extreme south of Chile is encouraged by the cruise industry prospects for its port and facilities: this season Norwegian Sun has returned with at least ten calls and for 2016/2017 a line will be cruising to Antarctica with Punta Arenas as a home port. Read full article
Comments
Disclaimer & comment rulesVery sensible, Punta Arenas is streets ahead of damp squalid Ushuaia. Nice town, lots of interesting things to see including the old map showing that the Falklands are British and not part of Argentina prominently displayed in the folk museum.
Feb 18th, 2016 - 10:12 am - Link - Report abuse 0Punta Arenas has a lot of traditional linkage to the Falklands. And still does. Islanders do a good bit of shopping for supplies at the Zona Franca. There are families in the area who trace their ancestors to Falkland islanders as well. In fact the sheep industry that grew up in southern Chile and southern Argentina started with Falklands sheep and Falklands sheep industry workers. There is a Kiwi-Chileno group based in Punta Arenas that teaches advanced sheep farming technology in Santa Cruz province in Argentina, in the Falklands, and in southern Chile.
Feb 18th, 2016 - 02:03 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Some historical British snippets
Feb 18th, 2016 - 02:11 pm - Link - Report abuse 01. On 26th April 1881 the Royal Navy sloop HMS Doterel blew up in Punta Arenas roads with the loss of 143 lives out of a crew od 155 when the forwar magazine exploded. At first sabotage was suspected but it was later established that the cause was a build up of gas in the coal bunkers, similar to that which destroyed the USS Maine in Havana leading to the Spanish American war.
The dead are commemorated by the Doterel Cross in the British section of the Punta Arenas cemetery.
2. Prior to the opening of the Panama Canal, Punta Arenas was a very important staging port. It not only had a British consulate but also a British Club which closed down as recently as 1981
3. I seem to remember a reference to The Sandy Point Times which claimed to to be the southernmost newspaper printed in English but my researches have drawn a blank on that. Perhaps the reference was to The Magellan TImes which ceased publication in 1934. Any one have any info on that?
@3 The Magellan Times was published until 1936 and was distributed from Punta Arenas throughout southern Patagonia, including southward to Ushuaia and northward to the estancias and towns of Santa Cruz province in Argentina, as well as having distribution in the Falkland Islands.
Feb 18th, 2016 - 02:41 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Ushuaia was founded by Lucas Bridges from the Falklands. When the Argentines got hold of it they promptly turned into a penal settlement.
Feb 18th, 2016 - 03:30 pm - Link - Report abuse 0@5
Feb 18th, 2016 - 04:06 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Actually the Bridges settled Harberton, which I visited some time ago. They didn't really settle Ushuaia, which is some distance away, although some histories of the Bridges have promoted that claim.
Waite Hockin Stirling is considered to have founded the anglican mission which is close to the site of modern day Ushuaia and although he was only there for a few months he is sometimes given credit for the city's founding. Bridges later (1870) took Stirling's position. But Ushuaia wasn't formally “founded” until 1884 when an Argentine military governor was appointed. At that time the little colony was established as a “maritime sub-prefecture”
No stone throwing tyre burning chanting thugs and Malvinista morons in Punta Arenas either. Great staging point for cruise passengers. The maritime museum is interesting you can view at replicas of Magellans and Shackletons crafts. I loved the cafes when I was cycling down there, lovely tea and cakes.
Feb 18th, 2016 - 04:18 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Yes, the Maritime Museum is a good one to visit in Punta Arenas. Likewise the Salesiano museum. I did some consulting work for the new “Straits of Magellan” visitor centre located about 40 minutes south of Punta Arenas, at Fuerte Bulnes, and that centre is definitely worth the effort to visit.
Feb 18th, 2016 - 04:47 pm - Link - Report abuse 0During the Marxist Allende regime 1970 to 1973 in Chile, most of the teams headed for Antarctica from South America shifted away from Punta Arenas for their last-port supplies. Starting in about 1975 that started moving back to Punta Arenas and now it's quite common to see an ice-capable ship in that port.
Punta Arenas sounds like a very nice place to visit.
Feb 19th, 2016 - 01:27 pm - Link - Report abuse 0I hope I can check it myself some day.
Commenting for this story is now closed.
If you have a Facebook account, become a fan and comment on our Facebook Page!