Wellboat with 200 tonnes of salmon sinks in Chile
A new wellboat working for major Chilean salmon farmer Camanchaca has sunk with 200 tonnes of fish on board.
The Seikongen was damaged during loading operations near Pilpilehue, not far from the city of Puerto Montt, more than 1,000 kilometres south of the Chilean capital, Santiago.
The nearby port, Puerto de Chonchi, received an emergency call from the wellboat that it was taking on water.
The Soychile newspaper reported that the 11 crew were safely evacuated using the vessel Eidsvuaag Atlantic.
There were more than 200 tonnes of salmon and 70 tonnes of fuel on board when the Seikongen sank, according to Maritime Bulletin.
The vessel is partially submerged in 10 metres of water, 200 metres from shore. Four Chilean navy ships have been deployed to prevent pollution after the Seikongen, built 2017, went down, the Latin American Herald Tribune reported.
The wellboat is operated by CPT Empresas Maritimas of Chile.
The Chilean navy has started an investigation to determine the cause of the accident. In a statement it said the first underwater inspections confirmed that the fuel tank of the boat with 67 thousand litres of fuel remains sealed. It also noted that the 37,000 salmon the ship was carrying are still in sealed tanks, but would be dead because of a lack of oxygen.
