The Argentine Navy
intercepted and had
a
Chinese vessel sailing in a prohibited area
of the Argentine Sea under
suspicion of illegal fishing
and had it inspected . After several unanswered calls,
the vessel was finally boarded
and no irregular cargo was found, although this required a winding chase.
Despite there being no evidence of illegal fishing on the vessel, the Navy carried out the inspection after
a string of suspicious activities by the fishing vessel
, which included
turning off the radar and refusing
to respond to calls.
This Tuesday, well into the night, the Chinese ship
entered 12 miles west of the limit within the Exclusive Economic Zone
established by the country for the exploitation of the Argentine Sea.
Before entering, she turned off her radar
- called automatic identification system (AIS) - and turned it on again some time later, explained the Ministry of Defense, which reported the irregular entry.
In illegal fishing territory, the boat
turned on the lights
used
to fish for squid
and began
sailing at low speed.
All movements that correspond to the protocol that any ship follows to cast nets, which increased official suspicions.
When the Navy called it by radio
, the Chinese ship did not answer because, supposedly,
it did not understand the language
. Not only that, but "it increased its speed, turned on its identifier and
adopted an exit direction from our area of jurisdiction
," Defense sources explained.
"
During the chase he did not answer the calls of the Argentine military ship
and he did so just after passing the 200 nautical mile line. Already in international waters, he established communication in
defective English
," the ministry's story by Luis Petri continued in a release.
According to
Clarín
, the naval and air operation involved the corvette Espora, the patrol boat Cordero, a Fennec helicopter and a B-200 aircraft.
Finally, after "
several hours of non-cooperative behavior on the part of the fishing vessel" , a
search team made up of 12 men
entered the boat
, made up of Navy personnel and the inspector assigned to the task by the Undersecretary of Fisheries.
The Corvette Espora, of the Argentine Navy, in control of illegal fishing.
Although
there were no signs of recent fishing
, there was a shipment of species obtained in other areas, outside of those prohibited by Argentina. After the inspection, the vessel continued its activities outside our exclusive economic zone.
Defense will reinforce controls at mile 200
After the situation with the Chinese ship, the Ministry of Defense announced that
it will redouble "efforts to guarantee, along the entire maritime coast
, the protection of national interests at sea."
Tour of Minister Luis Petri in a Hercules through the Argentine sea.
"At this time, as part of the
surveillance
and control operations of maritime spaces, we are flying over and navigating the area,
giving clear messages of deterrence to any foreign fishing vessel that wants to carry out illegal fishing
in the area of jurisdiction," said the Ministry. of Defense in a statement. And to do this, Luis Petri got on a Hercules and toured the area.
Seeking to
exercise greater control over the Exclusive Economic Zone and thus prevent foreign ships
from operating without permission, the ARA corvette “Espora” joined the ARA ocean patrol vessel “Contraalmirante Cordero”.
Patrolling the Argentine Sea from the Hércules. The @Armada_Arg leads command and control operations at mile 200 to protect our national interests at sea. The ARA Espora corvette joins the ARA ocean patrol vessel Contraalmirante Cordero, reinforcing our… pic.twitter.com/QktFNp67d4
— Luis Petri (@luispetri) March 27, 2024
"With the presence of the Navy,
illegal activities of depredation of the natural resources of our country are stopped
," they highlighted from Defense.
A few weeks ago, the illegal fishing carried out by an Argentine boat belonging to a Chinese businessman generated a scandal that ended with sanctions and the confiscation of the cargo, in addition to several resignations, such as that of an official from the Fisheries area who came from the previous government and the promise of departure of an important advisor to Diana Mondino in the Foreign Ministry who intervened on behalf of the businessman.
D.S.