Nilo Navas, an ex-combatant of the Malvinas War, together with his “usual team” will make the sixth trip on a sailboat-type boat from Ushuaia to Cape Horn. This destination is the southernmost point of our continent and has one of the most difficult waters to navigate in the world.
Navaswho is currently 58 years old and was one of the survivors of the sinking of the cruise ship General Manuel Belgrano during the war that pitted Argentina from the military dictatorship of 1976, in 1982, against Great Britain, chaired by Margaret Thatcherwill be accompanied by captain Andrés Antonini, boatswain Mario Monserrat, skipper and chief navigator Jorge Patoco, and navigators Cynthia Burna, Verónica Varas and Ernesto Niedwiecki on their journey from Ushuaia.
This trip will have an important historical component for our country, because the end point of the maritime journey, Cape Horn, is where the cruise ship General Manuel Belgrano was located during the Malvinas War. The boat that will depart from Ushuaia It will be the Galileo sailboat, with which Navas previously reached the Isla de los Estados and the Argentine Antarctic in 2019 and 2020 respectively.
This vessel belongs to the Malvinas Argentinas Foundation of Bahía Blanca, and also participated in another trip to the point of the sinking of the Argentine Navy ship in 2017, where an act of homage to the 323 fallen in the war was carried out. The group of sailors arrived at the capital of Tierra del Fuego on Thursday the 5th and from Friday the 6th they began preparing the ship at the Afasyn Yacht Club.
The Malvinas veteran commented on the journey that “we depend on the weather conditions but our idea is to set sail on Monday the 9th. Go through the Beagle Channel to Puerto Karelo, Puerto Almanza and Puerto Willians, already in Chile, and then head towards Cape Horn. We have a three-week journey planned, returning to Ushuaia on January 28 or 29.”
Brief summary of the Falklands War
Despite its name, the Malvinas war disputed sovereignty over South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands as well as the Malvinas Islands themselves. This conflict began on April 2, 1982. The Argentine archipelago occupied by Great Britain since 1833 was reconquered by our country through Operation Rosario, an amphibious military operation that managed to be successful.
When the Argentine reconquest became known, Great Britain, a world power in naval matters, launched its fleet against our country, beginning the Malvinas War. Finally, in the month of June, our forces were defeated and Great Britain reoccupied the mentioned islands.
