ARGENTINA DETAINS FALKLANDS ISLANDS FISHING VESSEL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BUENOS AIRES 000414

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/21/2016
TAGS: EFIS MARR ENRG PREL AR
SUBJECT: ARGENTINA DETAINS FALKLANDS ISLANDS FISHING VESSEL

REF: 05 BUENOS AIRES 1086

Classified By: Ambassador Lino Gutierrez, Reasons 1.4(b) and (d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: An Argentine Coast Guard vessel challenged
and - for the first time - detained a fishing vessel from the
Falklands Islands February 20. The Argentines claim that the
boat was within Argentina's 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone
(EEZ),while the vessel's owners - one of whom is an
influential Falklands Islands politician - maintain it was
fishing on the high seas. (The boat, however, was well
outside the 200-mile fishing zone claimed by the Falklands
Islands government since 1990.) A British Embassy official
told POLOFF that HMG is awaiting data from the ship to
determine its precise location at the time it was stopped,
but also said the GOA differs from other countries in how it
calculates its precise EEZ limits. The official believes
that the Argentine MFA so far has reacted cautiously to the
incident, but that the UK views this detention as a test case
as to whether the Kirchner government intends to harden its
already tough stance on Falklands / Malvinas issues,
including fishing rights and oil exploration. END SUMMARY.


2. (U) At 6:10 p.m. February 20, an Argentine Coast Guard
ship challenged the F/V John Cheek, a fishing vessel
registered in the Falklands Island. The vessel is owned by
the Fortuna Fishing Company, on whose board sits Jan Cheek,
an influential hard-line Falklands Islands politician. (The
boat was named after Jan Cheek's late husband, also a
well-known figure in the Islands.) Argentine authorities
claim that the John Cheek, which they estimate had a catch of
calamari and hake worth $1 million, was two miles within the
Argentine EEZ at the time it was challenged. The ship, which
immediately complied with the Coast Guard order to stop and
proceed to an Argentine port, was expected to arrive in the
city of Comodoro Rivadavia mid-day on February 21. The ship
and its cargo may be detained for several months but the 31
crewmembers (Spanish, Chilean and Peruvian) should be
released on bond.


3. (U) Last year Argentine authorities detained 8 foreign
fishing boats which it accused of fishing illegally in
Argentine waters. In March 2004 the Argentine icebreaker
Almirante Irizar entered the 200-mile radius Falklands
Islands fishing zone to query foreign fishing boats, but did
not detain any boats registered in the Falklands Islands.
The March 2004 incursion was immediately protested by the UK
government.


4. (C) Ian Duddy (please protect),an official at the British
Embassy in Buenos Aires, told POLOFF that the UK views this
as an important test case of Argentina's policy towards the
Falklands / Malvinas Islands. For the moment, the UK is
awaiting data from the ship to determine its precise location
when it was challenged. British Embassy officials are not
ruling out the possibility that the ship -as the owners claim
- was in international waters when it was stopped by the
Coast Guard. However Duddy also said that the Argentines use
a slightly different method in calculating their EEZ, which
may have generated confusion as to exactly which side of the
EEZ limit the F/V John Cheek was located when it was
challenged. (Duddy gave POLOFF a detailed list of Argentine
EEZ coordinates prepared in 1997 by the UK Hydrographic
Office).


5. (C) Duddy said HMG preferred course was to treat this a a
low-profile error in navigation. According to Duddy, the
UK's Ambassador to Argentina, in a previously-scheduled
appointment February 21, would discuss the F/V John Cheek
detention with Deputy Foreign Minister Roberto Garcia
Moritan. Duddy said initial signs from the Argentine MFA
were hopeful. They had sent an "informational diplomatic
note" about the ship's detention rather than a protest note,
and so far no senior Argentine officials have commented on
the incident. More generally, Duddy said that the Argentines
had refrained from protesting the recent visit by the British
DCM to the Islands (as they usually do when Buenos
Aires-based UK officials visit the Islands). Duddy hoped
that these somewhat positive signs indicated an Argentine
decision to ratchet down its confrontational rhetoric and
actions regarding the Islands.


6. (C) For the moment the UK has a strong practical reason
for wanting this incident to disappear from the front pages.
Duddy said that HMS Endurance, the Royal Navy's Antarctic
patrol ship, was currently docked in Port Stanley with a
broken rudder. UK authorities were hoping to quietly bring
the ship into Buenos Aires for repairs, but realize that any
escalation over the F/V John Cheek would make a port call by
a British naval vessel highly unlikely.


7. (C) In an earlier conversation, Duddy told POLOFF that UK
authorities are also closely monitoring the GOA's reaction to
ongoing oil exploration in waters near the
Falklands/Malvinas. He said that the exploration phase in
some of the survey lots is over, and that extraction may
begin as early as this year. Some of the companies involved
in these operations have received letters from the GOA,
threatening them with legal action if they continue
operations in waters claimed by Argentina. Duddy speculated
that eventually U.S. drilling companies could be involved in
joint ventures and also subject to GOA pressure. (Extensive
information on potential Falklands oil and gas reserves,
including exploration history and production licenses, can be
found at the Falklands Islands Government's website,
www.falklands-oil.com. To date, we know of no U.S. companies
that are involved in Falklands/Malvinas oil exploration.)


8. (C) COMMENT: The Kirchner government usually misses no
chance to confront the British over Falklands/Malvinas
sovereignty issues. In April 2005 it vigorously protested
the listing of the Islands as a British dependency in the EU
Constitution (ref. A). In last year's meeting of the UN
Decolonization Committee then-Foreign Minister Rafael Bielsa
took a very hard line, and Argentina continues to prohibit
direct flights to the Islands from Argentine territory. The
alleged incursion by the F/V John Cheek, named after and
owned by two of the Islands' most hard-line politicians in
recent years, presents an opportunity almost too good to pass
up for the combative Nestor Kirchner. How he chooses to
react may strongly affect Argentine-UK relations in the near
term.


9. (U) Reftel available at
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/buenosaires.< /a>


GUTIERREZ