fishing trawler
A fishing trawler is a commercial fishing vessel designed to operate Trawling, fishing trawls. Trawling is a method of fishing that involves actively dragging or pulling a trawl through the water behind one or more trawlers. Trawls are fishing ...
registered in
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
. The vessel had a length of . It was sunk on 15 March 2016 off the coast of
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
by the
Argentine Coast Guard
The Argentine Naval Prefecture ( es, Prefectura Naval Argentina or PNA) is a service of Argentina's Ministry of Security (Argentina), Security Ministry charged with protecting the country's rivers and maritime territory. It therefore fulfills the ...
during a territorial fishing dispute. There were no fatalities.
Sinking
On 14 March 2016, the Argentine ''Prefecto Derbes'' shelled and sunk ''Lu Yan Yuan Yu 010''; all 32 crew members were rescued. According to the
Argentine Coast Guard
The Argentine Naval Prefecture ( es, Prefectura Naval Argentina or PNA) is a service of Argentina's Ministry of Security (Argentina), Security Ministry charged with protecting the country's rivers and maritime territory. It therefore fulfills the ...
, the vessel was found fishing illegally within the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of Argentina (latitude S 42° 34.8" , Lon W 55°4.7") off the coast of
Puerto Madryn
Puerto Madryn (; cy, Porth Madryn), also known as ''Madryn'', is a city in the province of Chubut in Argentine Patagonia. It is the capital of the Viedma Department, and has about 93,995 inhabitants according to the last census in 2010.
Puer ...
, a zone known for
squid
True squid are molluscs with an elongated soft body, large eyes, eight arms, and two tentacles in the superorder Decapodiformes, though many other molluscs within the broader Neocoleoidea are also called squid despite not strictly fitting t ...
. The Coast Guard reported that it hailed the fishing vessel over radio—in Spanish and English—and both visual and audio signals were sent to make contact. However, the vessel turned off its fishing lights and proceeded to flee towards international waters without responding. Next, the Coast Guard fired "warning shots", but the trawler allegedly made some attempts to ram the Coast Guard ship during the pursuit. ''Prefecto Derbes'' opened fire on the trawler, which stopped only before sinking.Prefectura hundio a un buque chino que pescaba dentro de la Zona Economica Exclusiva y rescato a su tripulacion , (in Spanish) ''Prefetura Naval Argentina''. 16 March 2016. The Coast Guard rescued four people, including the captain, while the remaining 28 crew were rescued by a nearby Chinese vessel.
Aftermath
According to the Chinese news agency
Xinhua
Xinhua News Agency (English pronunciation: )J. C. Wells: Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, 3rd ed., for both British and American English, or New China News Agency, is the official state news agency of the People's Republic of China. Xinhua ...
, the Chinese embassy in Argentine declared, that while the incident was under investigation, it has asked Chinese fishing companies active in the South Atlantic to exercise caution.
The Argentine foreign minister,
Susana Malcorra
Susana Mabel Malcorra (born 18 November 1954) is an Argentine electrical engineer who served as foreign minister of Argentina from 2015 to 2017. She was announced for the position by President Mauricio Macri on 24 November 2015. Prior to that she ...
, said that they hoped the incident would not damage the bilateral relations. According to trade sources, the ship had been involved in disputes over fishing rights before.