Eight dead, five missing after fishing vessel sinks in bad weather off Falklands

Spanish newspaper Faro de Vigo reports that eight people are dead while another five are unaccounted for after a fishing vessel sank east of the Falkland Islands on Monday, July 22.

Argos Georgia, a 2018-built longline fishing vessel operated by Gibraltar-based Argos Froyanes, was approximately over 300 kilometres east of Port Stanley when its crew reported water ingress at around 14:11 local time on Monday. The crew later abandoned ship into waiting liferafts, and the longliner sank shortly afterwards.

Of the longliner's 27-strong crew, which also included 10 Spanish nationals, only 14 have been successfully rescued while eight were found deceased in the surrounding waters. The deceased included the captain and the cook, both Spanish nationals.

The survivors have since been brought to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital in Stanley for treatment. These individuals' families have already been notified of their condition.

A fisheries patrol boat and some Good Samaritan fishing vessels that were operating in the same area off the Falklands participated in the rescue effort. The rescue and the recovery of Argos Georgia's crew were undertaken even as the area was experiencing extreme weather conditions that limited the use of helicopters for aerial surveillance.

Initial reports state that the damage that led to the flooding and the vessel's subsequent sinking was due to the inclement weather, which was characterised by waves reaching as much as eight metres high and wind speeds of up to 70 knots.