Historic Research Vessel Sinks Before Scheduled Reefing

A historic research vessel that was scheduled to be reefed off Mar del Plata has gone down a few days early, and in the wrong location. 

The 1964-built Capitan Canepa was a fishing vessel that was purchased by Argentina's national fisheries institute (INIDEP) in 1979 and used for research. She had a long career totaling 40 years and more than 200 scientific voyages, and she participated in SAR duties on the Argentine side during the Falklands conflict in 1982. According to local industry outlet Pescare, the Canepa was remembered well by former crewmembers for her sea-kindliness, and she was home to generations of Argentine oceanographic researchers. 

However, time takes its toll on every vessel. A union labor conflict led to deferred maintenance, accelerating her deterioration in her final years. The Canepa was decommissioned in 2019, and was selected for decontamination and intentional sinking as a manmade reef at Argentina's Cristo Rey underwater park.

On Wednesday morning, days before the tow to her final destination, the vessel unexpectedly sank alongside the pier at the Mar del Plata Naval Base. No personnel were injured, and as the vessel had been stripped for reefing there was no environmental harm, though onsite pollution control measures were still followed as a precaution after the sinking.  The cause of the casualty is believed to be leakage from the vessel's structural deterioration. 

"Its sinking, although laden with sadness, could be seen as a poetic echo of its history: a giant that, exhausted by the vicissitudes of time, finally found rest, avoiding the cutting of its scrapyard and sheltered by the waters that saw it set off on more than 200 oceanographic and fisheries research campaigns," wrote Pescare.