Crew abandons flooded fishing vessel; all 27 stranded on lifeboats in South Atlantic

Rescue operations are underwayin the South Atlantic to save 27 crew members who abandoned their fishing vessel, the Argos Georgia, due to severe flooding, the Falkland Islands government announced on Tuesday (July 23).

The crew abandonedthe Argos Georgia after experiencing "uncontrolled flooding" shortly after 4:00 pm local time (1900 GMT) on Monday (July 22) andleft onlife rafts, according to a statement from the government of the British overseas territory.

The vessel was located approximately 200 nautical miles (370 kilometres, 229 miles) east of Stanley, the capital of the Falkland Islands, at the time of the incident, the statement added.

Also watch |Atlantic ocean currents circulation nears breakdown: Study

Among the crew were 10 Spanish citizens, a delegate from the regional government of Galicia in northwest Spain confirmed, as per news agency AFP.

Search and rescue operations affected due to challenging weather

Two British Royal Air Force (RAF) planes have been actively tracking the positions of the life rafts. Several maritime vessels are also involved in the search operations, the Falkland Islands government said.

But a part of the search and rescue (SAR) helicopter's attempt to rescue some of the stranded crew members late Monday was thwarted by "extremely challenging weather conditions and very limited time on scene due to range."

The helicopter was latergrounded due to worsening weather conditions.

"As of this morning (Tuesday), weather conditions mean the search area remains out of limits for helicopter SAR operations, but the situation is being reviewed regularly with a view to resuming operations as soon as possible," the statement said.

Robert Ervik, the owner of the Argos Georgia, told AFP that 27 people were on board when the vessel began taking on water on Monday.

Builtin 2018 in Turkey, Argos Georgia, wasnearly 54 metres(177 feet) long and couldaccommodate 28 people, according to its British-Norwegian fishing firm owners, Argos Froyanes.

(With inputs from agencies)