Two die in Chile salmon farm supply ship tragedy
Two crew members have died after a ship delivering supplies to a salmon farm sank in Chile’s Queilen Bay.
The tragedy is believed to have occurred on Friday at 4am, when the 24-metre long Art-Rigob was at anchor.
According to a report in La Estrella newspaper, a witness on a nearby boat noticed an abrupt cut of the moorings as the vessel submerged to a depth of about 15 metres.
Eugenio Bosque, captain of the port of Chonchi, with jurisdiction in the commune of Quellina, said the witness immediately summoned the emergency services.
"The witness went out to look and did not see the boat that was on the side, then he warned the maritime authority and added that inside there were two people and the last time he saw them and spoke with them was at approximately 10pm,” he was quoted in the newspaper as saying.
Navy personnel, with the cooperation of commercial divers, reached the sunken ship and managed to retrieve the bodies of the victims, who have been identified locally as machinist David Marcelo Soto Burbao (46) and crewman Marcelo Herrera Muñoz (31).
Roger Guaquín, one of the crew of the boat that stayed overnight on land, was quoted as saying: “We did the diving and then we recovered the only two people who were on board."
La Estrella reported another of the workers linked to the maritime work of the barge, Henry Villalon, said the ship had 34 tons of cargo.
After the recovery of the bodies, the naval authority activated its emergency fuel spill protocols in order to avoid environmental damage in the underwater environment.
Bosque said: "Navy personnel have combat control material for pollution to contain and mitigate the effects of the fuel that is coming out from inside the barge to the surface."
Permission to sail
According to the request to sail document, the captain of the ship registered the existence of 2,000 litres of oil. The barge had permission to sail and it was specified that the Art-Rigob provided transport services to an as yet unnamed salmon farming company between Queilen and Acui Island.
At the instruction of the Public Prosecutor's Office, the presence of the Criminal Investigation Brigade of Castro was requested. Preliminary expert reports on the bodies of the two deceased workers were carried out and Commissioner Bernardo González said: "It was determined that they did not present injuries attributable to third parties.”
