Tourist boat sinks in Ecuador’s Galapagos Islands, all passengers, crew rescued

QUITO, May 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A boat with 15 tourists and 10 crew members caught fire and sank off the Galapagos Islands on Wednesday, but Ecuadorean authorities said all aboard have been rescued.

The Ecuadorean navy said authorities ordered a nearby vessel to carry out the rescue after the distressed Cormorant I reported a fire in the engine room.

The boat, which had passed all technical inspections this year, sank at about 7am.

Port authorities said the people aboard the boat were from the US, Canada and Ecuador. The navy’s statement said they were being taken to Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island for medical care.

The navy said it had activated a contingency plan in the event of a fuel spill but a statement from the Galapagos National Park ruled out that possibility, saying “the diesel with which it operated was consumed during the fire”.

The park said environmental officials will still conduct an on-site inspection.

This was the second loss of a tourist boat in the Galapagos Islands region in 2022.

On April 23, a boat sank in the Academia Bay on the Santa Cruz Island, prompting an immediate operation to reduce the impact on the ecosystems of some 2,000 gallons of diesel on board.

The Galapagos Islands, located 970 kilometers from the Pacific coast of Ecuador, was named a UNESCO Natural World Heritage site in 1978.

The region is home to numerous endangered species of flora and fauna that served as a laboratory for the English naturalist, geologist and biologist Charles Darwin to establish his theory of the evolution of species. — NNN-AGENCIES