The Datcha. The 100 million boat sailed from Ushuaia with an anchor "second hand" but offers reward for the original
It was four days of intense search, which ended up in nothingness. On Christmas week, Russian tycoon Oleg Tinkov hired the Argentine divers company Clean Sea to search the depths of the Beagle canal for the anchor that his luxury icebreaker-the Datcha-had lost days ago. Without that fundamental piece, by maritime protocol, the ship could not sail to its new destination, Antarctica, so it was stranded in Ushuaia until today.
"we did a very intense sweep of the area where the captain declared the loss of the anchor, but we found nothing," says Julio Pazos, owner of the contracted diving company. He and his team-in total, four professional divers from Puerto Madryn-spent four days immersed in the waters of the south looking for this galvanized steel colossus of 1200 kg. But they didn't succeed, and two days ago they retired. "if we continued, the search would be more expensive than a new anchor," Pazos explains. His company charged the icebreaker $3200 a day of work. But the captain of the ship also offered him a prize of $8,000 in case they could find the anchor.
It is not a significant amount if you take into account the money that the ship was losing for each day of waiting at the Fueguino port. According to its website, La Datcha's weekly rent costs 840,000 euros, plus expense, during the European summer, and 900,000 euros, plus expense, during the European winter.
Ante el fracaso de la búsqueda, la empresa a cargo del barco decidió suspenderla y adquirir un nuevo ancla. Según pudo saber LA NACION, se trata de un ancla usada de origen extranjero, que se encontraba en Buenos Aires, y que esta misma mañana llegó a Ushuaia. Pocas horas después, la embarcación ya estaba zarpando del puerto con nuevos pasajeros -el máximo son 12 personas-.
El tema parece estar resuelto para el propietario de la embarcación y sus huéspedes. Pero no para los fueguinos. “La agencia marítima hizo trascender la posición en la que supuestamente se perdió el ancla, así que está toda Ushuaia buscándola, con la ilusión de la recompensa”, cuenta Pazos. Hay buzos particulares, pesqueros y otros aventureros embarcados en la misión, que según el propietario de Mar Limpio, no es tan fácil de encontrar.
He poses two hypotheses: "either he sank in the sand or the captain doesn't know where he fell," he anticipates. If the first thing happened, it's going to be complicated, because I Don't think there's a metal detection team of this kind in Ushuaia. "
The epic: 30 hours of car and four days submerged
El equipo de Mar Limpio fue contactado la semana pasada para salir con urgencia desde Puerto Madryn hacia Ushuaia. Pero no pudieron viajar en avión, como hubiera sido conveniente. “Antes, había un vuelo que hacía Trelew-Ushuaia directo. Ahora, tenés que hacer: Trelew-Buenos aires, Buenos Aires-Ushuaia. Pero, de todas formas, no había vuelos”, cuenta Pazos. Los cuatro buzos, entonces, no tuvieron otra opción que viajar en auto. Es un trayecto que podrían haber hecho en 19 horas, dice él, pero terminó siendo de 30. “Las fronteras estaban colapsadas, porque los que trabajan ahí están atendiendo medio día, en vez de 24 horas, por la pandemia. ¡De Río Gallegos a Ushuaia tardamos 15 horas! ¡y todavía nos faltaban 1200 km más!”, detalla.
Diving tasks were complicated due to depth. "that area is between 23 and 26 meters, with some depressions. Our difficulty, by diving with air, is that we can only be a certain amount of time submerged, without going into decompression. Time depends on the depth. That's why each one did repeated diving, two a day, 28 minutes, "he explains. They could have dived with decompression, but for that they needed many more inputs that they didn't have available at the time. In addition to the search, on the second day, a mini-submarine, for three people, was on board the icebreaker.
"there's always risk."
The diving team considers that the lost anchor is small when compared to that of a merchant ship, which can weigh as much as nine tons. They are used to doing this kind of work, in addition to inspection and damage repair.
The time of the year you have the most work is now. The company has a summer base in Ushuaia, the main city of Antarctic tourism, where much of the movement of the season takes place. "from November to March, there are almost 500 cruise arrivals and departures from Ushuaia. That's why we have a summer base there. "many passenger ships-those carrying passengers on board-have contact, friction, with ice. We do hull inspections, propeller inspections, and sometimes, if needed, some kind of repair. We do welds and other kinds of underwater repairs, "she says.
In his work, the risk of life is a constant. "in itself, diving work is risky. We are always submerged in depth. Many protocols and procedures have to be respected, because this work has a fairly high accident rate worldwide, "he says.
