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Spanish navy commander dies in Antarctica waters

A Spanish navy commander travelling on board an oceanographic research ship in the icy waters of Antarctica fell overboard and died, the defence ministry announced on Saturday.

Published: 3 March 2018 15:03 CET
Spanish navy commander dies in Antarctica waters
A handout photograph released by Louisiana State University on Friday, shows Adélie penguins on sea ice next to Comb Island, Danger Islands, Antarctica. Photo: Michael Polito / LSU / AFP
It was unclear why Javier Montojo Salazar fell from the ship on Friday evening, not far from the Spanish “Juan Carlos I” base on Livingston Island.
 
Rescuers searched for his body for six hours before finding it, the ministry said in a statement.
 
The Hesperides ship is now travelling to Ushuaia in Argentina to start the process of repatriating the body.
 
Defence Minister Maria Dolores de Cospedal tweeted her condolences to Montojo's relatives and loved ones. “Rest in peace,” she said.
 
Hesperides is a ship that conducts research into marine biodiversity and other issues, and is also used to provide supplies to Spanish bases in Antarctica given its hull is reinforced, allowing it to navigate in icy waters.

AIRCRAFT

Has a Lancaster bomber been discovered under Denmark’s seas?

A World War 2 aircraft may have been found at the bottom of the sea near the Danish island of Langeland.

Published: 16 September 2019 12:25 CEST
Has a Lancaster bomber been discovered under Denmark’s seas?
Photo: Foto-VDW/Depositphotos

The aircraft, discovered in waters off the southern tip of the island, could be a Lancaster, a British bomber used during the 1939-45 war.

Denmark’s Navy has issued a temporary ban on diving, fishing, sailing or anchoring in the area due to the possibility of live ammunition being amongst the wreckage, vice commander of the Royal Danish Navy’s diving unit Bo Petersen told Ritzau.

“We received a civilian report that a diver had seen what looked like the wreckage of an old aircraft. It is probably a Lancaster bomber down there. The diver said there were also objects that could be bombs. We are responding to that,” Petersen said.

The vice commander stressed that the identity of the airplane was yet to be confirmed.

“We can’t go out and check what we’ve been told because there is too much wind and high waves,” he said on Sunday.

But a Navy diving team would be despatched at the earliest possible juncture, he added.

In a tweet, the Danish military confirmed investigation would take place “in the coming days”.

“We’ll dive down to the wreckage and conduct a thorough investigation of the surrounding area for ammunition. We will thereby be able to state whether the area can be re-opened or whether we need to remove the ammunition to make the area secure,” Petersen said.

The Lancaster, a four-engine British bomber, was first produced in 1941.

According to British Royal Air Force figures, 7,377 Lancasters in total were made. After the war, they were used as reconnaissance aircraft until 1956.

There are now only two airworthy examples of the aircraft in the world – one in Canada and one in the UK.

Although the discovery in Danish waters is highly unusual, Petersen noted that a bomber aircraft was also found in the area during the construction of the Great Belt Bridge in the late 1990s.

READ ALSO: Danish schoolboy finds buried German WW2 aircraft and pilot

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