{"id":884,"date":"2024-07-13T08:41:00","date_gmt":"2024-07-13T07:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gov.fk\/maritimeauthority\/?p=884"},"modified":"2026-02-13T08:43:18","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T08:43:18","slug":"falkland-islands-legislative-assembly-public-statement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gov.fk\/maritimeauthority\/falkland-islands-legislative-assembly-public-statement\/","title":{"rendered":"Falkland Islands Legislative Assembly Public Statement"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Statement made by the Honourable Jack Ford at the sitting of the Legislative Assembly on the Incident involving FV ARGOS GEORGIA<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

On the afternoon of Monday 22nd July, the Falkland Islands Maritime Authority (FIMA) received information that the fishing vessel Argos Georgia, with 27 persons onboard, was taking on water and requesting assistance some 200 miles east of Stanley. At 4pm local time on Monday 22 July 2024 the crew of the vessel were forced to abandon ship. Communications were quickly established between the Falkland Islands Government, Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, HQ British Forces South Atlantic Islands, the UK Maritime & Coastguard Agency, the Argos Froyanes fishing vessel company and other fishing companies with vessels at sea. Throughout the subsequent Search and Rescue operation all parties have been working very closely and effectively together in very difficult conditions in order to save the lives of those involved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Returning to the events of Monday, the BFSAI A-400M \u2018Atlas\u2019 was the first asset on scene and was able to track and report the positions of the life rafts. Between the BFSAI \u2018Atlas\u2019 and A-330 \u2018Voyager\u2019 aircraft, overwatch was maintained overnight and into Tuesday. Meanwhile FPV Lilibet, the Falkland Islands fishing vessel Robin M Lee and the Chilean fishing vessel Puerto Toro also responded to the incident and made best speed to the location overnight. That evening, operating at extreme range, a Search and Rescue (SAR) helicopter from the BFSAI SAR Flight operated by Bristow Helicopters attempted to recover personnel from the scene but the attempt was unsuccessful in the face of extremely challenging weather conditions at maximum range and very limited time on scene. The helicopter returned to Stanley Airport to refuel prior to a second attempt but the weather worsened further, and rotary wing SAR operations were suspended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On arriving at the scene early on Tuesday, the three vessels immediately commenced Search and Rescue operations that continued throughout the day and into Wednesday. As a result of very effective teamwork by all agencies and the tremendous efforts of all responders in the face of appalling weather, 14 crew members were rescued and 9 bodies were recovered. The remaining 4 individuals are missing, presumed deceased. 13 of the 14 survivors returned to Stanley on Wednesday afternoon and were taken to the Lighthouse Mission to Seafarers to be medically assessed by KEMH staff, given welfare support, provided with clothing and other vital items, much of which had been donated by the local community, before being taken to their accommodation. The 14th survivor will arrive onboard the Robin M Lee today. The bodies of the deceased are also returning to Stanley onboard both the Robin M Lee and the Puerto Toro and the horrors that the crews have had to endure in retrieving the bodies of fellow fishermen, some of whom were known to them, must be acknowledged with profound gratitude.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Puerto Toro has had a particularly difficult time in having to retrieve the bodies of 8 people, without the joy and satisfaction of rescuing anyone alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a comprehensive, multi-agency case review of the situation yesterday morning, a formal end to the Search and Rescue operation was declared at 07:30 local time, although options for further search effort for those still missing will be kept under constant review over the coming days. The follow-on phase is well underway, focused on the needs of both survivors and the deceased – and the families and loved ones of all those caught up in this dreadful event \u2013 not forgetting the impact on those involved in the recovery operation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On behalf of the Legislative Assembly, we offer heartfelt condolences to those families and loved ones that have suffered bereavement – and a speedy and complete recovery to all those who have suffered during this awful episode.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We extend fulsome thanks to all those: military and civilian; ashore and afloat; within these islands and overseas, that responded so effectively in this time of need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And finally, throughout this episode there has been a very significant amount of inaccurate information emanating from social media and mainstream media alike. The Falkland Islands Government have been able to release factual information since the incident happened – but that sometimes comes at a cost in terms of speed – as we have to have a level of sensitivity and check what we say with a number of stakeholders in these situations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Office of the Legislative Assembly<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gilbert House<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tel: 27451<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Statement made by the Honourable Jack Ford at the sitting of the Legislative Assembly on the Incident involving FV ARGOS…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-884","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFalkland Islands Legislative Assembly Public Statement - Maritime Authority<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.fk\/maritimeauthority\/falkland-islands-legislative-assembly-public-statement\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Falkland Islands Legislative Assembly Public Statement - Maritime Authority\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Statement made by the Honourable Jack Ford at the sitting of the Legislative Assembly on the Incident involving FV ARGOS...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.gov.fk\/maritimeauthority\/falkland-islands-legislative-assembly-public-statement\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Maritime Authority\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-07-13T07:41:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-13T08:43:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.gov.fk\/maritimeauthority\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/23\/2026\/02\/Crest_Colour.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"202\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"256\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jonathan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jonathan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gov.fk\\\/maritimeauthority\\\/falkland-islands-legislative-assembly-public-statement\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gov.fk\\\/maritimeauthority\\\/falkland-islands-legislative-assembly-public-statement\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jonathan\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gov.fk\\\/maritimeauthority\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/83bcf4c0dc5a28514903e4717e007da7\"},\"headline\":\"Falkland Islands Legislative Assembly Public Statement\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-07-13T07:41:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-13T08:43:18+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gov.fk\\\/maritimeauthority\\\/falkland-islands-legislative-assembly-public-statement\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":739,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gov.fk\\\/maritimeauthority\\\/falkland-islands-legislative-assembly-public-statement\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gov.fk\\\/maritimeauthority\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/23\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/Crest_Colour.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gov.fk\\\/maritimeauthority\\\/falkland-islands-legislative-assembly-public-statement\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gov.fk\\\/maritimeauthority\\\/falkland-islands-legislative-assembly-public-statement\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gov.fk\\\/maritimeauthority\\\/falkland-islands-legislative-assembly-public-statement\\\/\",\"name\":\"Falkland Islands Legislative Assembly Public Statement - 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