The Falkland Islands government air service, FIGAS, has incorporated on lease a Britten-Norman Islander aircraft for the inter-islands air service during the current summer season. Likewise another new aircraft has been ordered, scheduled to be delivered next July, as well as four new engines for the FIGAS fleet of Briten-Norman Islanders.
Premier Oil has taken advantage of its second consecutive year of record oil production to make larger than expected cuts into its still-significant debts. The London-listed oil and gas developer, with interests in the Falkland Islands, expects its financial results to reveal end-of-year debts of US$2.3 billion, after removing US$390 million from the total following a sharp rise in oil output.
The Falkland Islands Government announced on Friday that Mrs Sukey Cameron MBE, the Falkland Islands Government Representative in the UK, is to retire in October 2019.
Brexit will hit the supply of medicines to the Falkland Islands, however, it is unclear to what extent, indicated Falklands Chief Medical Officer Dr Rebecca Edwards to Penguin News this week.
Following on from Penguin News’ interview last week with Islander Mensun Bound, who was involved in the search for the Argentine submarine Ara San Juan, Mr Bound spoke of his current project, the search for Shackleton’s ship Endurance.
Mark Waghorn, writing for The London Economic, and based on a paper on Magellanic penguins published in the January edition of Current Biology, gives us access to some fascinating facts about this breed which is most common along the Atlantic Patagonia coast and the Falkland Islands.
United Kingdom Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies will, for the first time, be able to design and mint their own versions of the new 12-sided £1 coin. The iconic £1 coin has long been recognized around the world and Brits living in UK territories may soon be able to spend unique versions of the new pound, replacing the older coins currently in use, reports the UK Treasury in an official release.
Options for the extension of the Falkland Islands' Mount Pleasant airport passenger terminal will be considered by the local elected authorities in the coming weeks. According to Penguin News, quoting lawmaker MLA Barry Elsby, options will be put before the Executive Council early in the new year.
In an official release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Argentina recalled that 186 years ago, on 3 January 1833, “UK military forces illegally occupied and usurped the Malvinas Islands and adjoining maritime spaces in the South Atlantic”.
An Antarctic scientific expedition aiming to understand the secrets of a giant iceberg will also attempt to locate Ernest Shackleton’s stricken Endurance in the Weddell Sea, according to reports in The Guardian.