A small Panamanian tourist ship was stranded in Antarctica on Thursday after hitting a rock near Arwski Peninsula in the south extreme of the Chilean territory.

"This is a regrettable accident and the circumstances of how it occurred are not clear yet," Chilean army official Carlos Palacio said.

Weather conditions at the time of the accident were reportedly not good.

The Ushuaia started sailing in Argentina with 89 passenger and 33 crew members on broad.

Argentine Admiral Daniel Martin said the ship lay about 300 km southwest of an Argentine military base on the Antarctic Peninsula.

The army began rescue operations after receiving signals that the stranded ship had a minimum water entrance and loss of fuel.

The passengers and crew members on board "are not in danger" and they were "following the contingency plan," Captain Jorge Aldeguerri said.

A passenger vessel has been dispatched to the scene to assist the tourist ship, the army said.

(Xinhua News Agency December 5, 2008)