Arrests stall retrieval voyage
Fishing company Sanford is not commenting on assault charges facing three New Zealand fishermen in the remote Falkland Islands in the south Atlantic Ocean.
The men, believed to be part of the crew from the San Aspiring fishing vessel, awaiting a retrieval journey back to New Zealand via the Timaru-based San Aotea II, were arrested after a bar fight on June 29.
Inspector Barry Thacker of the Royal Falkland Islands Police told RNZ reporter Sally Murphy there was a fight at Deano’s Bar.
‘‘When we attended there were a number of people that had been assaulted, it turns out there were five people seriously assaulted receiving hospital treatment,’’ he said.
‘‘Three sailors from the San Aspiring, New Zealand residents, were arrested, are still in police custody and have been charged with violent disorder and are appearing before our magistrates tomorrow.’’
Thacker said that at this stage they appeared to be unprovoked attacks.
A Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson told Stuff that they were aware of reports of the arrest of three New Zealanders in the Falkland Islands.
‘‘For privacy reasons no further information will be provided,’’ the spokesperson said.
Sanford declined to comment on the charges as the matter was before the court.
‘‘Sanford is committed to supporting the legal process and doing the right thing for the Falkland’s community and our crew,’’ a Sanford spokesperson said.
‘‘Our efforts to try and understand events surrounding the matter have been hampered by the differing time zones, but we are working on it.’’
The San Aspiring has been fishing for toothfish off the South American coast since February, with many of the crew at sea for more than 140 days due to Covid19 disrupting their travel home.
On Tuesday, another Sanford vessel, the San Aotea II, arrived in the Falklands on a repatriation mission to bring 16 men back to New Zealand and deliver new crew to take their place and complete the fishing season on the San Aspiring.
The San Aotea II was expected to leave on its return trip to New Zealand on July 2 (New Zealand time) but that now appears to have been delayed.
‘‘Our planned crew retrieval operation will continue, albeit slightly delayed while we wait for more clarity from the court process,’’ the Sanford spokesperson said.
‘‘When we attended there were a number of people that had been assaulted, it turns out there were five people seriously assaulted receiving hospital treatment.’’ Inspector Barry Thacker