The Vanuatu-flagged but Chinese-owned Xinrun 579 was detected earlier this month by the Prefecture within the EEZ (Photo: PNA)

Illegal Fishing: China Increases Pressure on Argentine Sea Using Vessels Flying Flags of Vanuatu and Cameroon

ARGENTINA
Monday, January 27, 2025, 00:10 (GMT + 9)

In addition to using Panama's “mother ships,” China has now deployed at least 13 vessels that, under “flags of convenience,” fish along the edge and even inside the Exclusive Economic Zone. According to an investigation, Chinese companies use this strategy to conceal illicit activities such as illegal fishing and human trafficking.

An ongoing investigation has uncovered “a new Chinese maneuver to disguise illegal fishing in the South Atlantic,” reports the Argentine news outlet InfoBae. This is the preliminary title of a draft document by the Circle of Environmental Policies (CPA), which highlights the existence of at least 13 vessels owned by Chinese companies fishing under “flags of convenience” from countries such as Vanuatu and Cameroon. The investigation has already identified the Chinese companies owning ten of these vessels.

Milko Schvartzman also finds it striking that, on several occasions and under the excuse of 'extreme weather problems', several Chinese squid 'jigging' fishing vessels have entered the Argentine EEZ (see blank box). Schvartzman is investigating this curious detail, as it is striking that Spanish, Taiwanese and Korean vessels do not adopt the same conduct and opt for other types of solutions. Photo: Milko Schvartzman/Infobae

“We denounce a new maneuver by the Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing fleet operating along the outer edge of Argentina's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ): Chinese vessels are using flags of convenience from other countries to hide their true identity,” reads a passage of the document being prepared by Milko Schvartzman, an expert on fishing from the Circle of Environmental Policies.

This kind of “camouflage” is not entirely new, but it has increased significantly this year. The investigation dates its start to 2020, focusing on the so-called “Mile 201,” the outer edge of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), where only vessels flying the Argentine flag (many of which are also owned by Chinese companies but are licensed and subject to Argentine law) are allowed to fish.

Photo: Argentine Coast Guard (PNA)

The trend of using “flags of convenience” appears to have escalated this year. Schvartzman notes that “some fishing vessels flying the flags of previously unregistered countries, such as Vanuatu, a small Pacific island nation, have appeared.”

At Least 13 Identified

So far in the 2024–2025 season, the investigation has detected “at least 13 vessels flying flags of convenience” (FOC) and identified the ownership of ten of them by Chinese companies.

In fact, one of these vessels was caught red-handed by the Argentine Coast Guard (PNA) in early January inside the Exclusive Economic Zone. “The fishing vessel Xinrun 579, flying the Vanuatu flag, was detected by the Coast Guard System, a leading regional technological platform that integrates various information systems to monitor vessel movements. It is used by the Maritime Traffic, River, and Lake Directorate of the National Maritime Authority under the Ministry of National Security,” the Coast Guard reported at the time. The Vanuatu-flagged vessel entered the EEZ “on January 5 around noon and remained in the sector until late afternoon, traveling at less than 6 knots—behavior that, under Argentine fishing regulations, constitutes presumed fishing activity,” the Coast Guard said tersely. The GC-25 Azopardo, patrolling the area, reported the “violation” and initiated the relevant administrative proceedings.

Caught in the Act

The Coast Guard subsequently provided a video of the detection moment and a diagram of the Xinrun 579's “track” or route, which can be seen below. The vessel arrived in the area in mid-December and committed its presumed violation or crime between January 5 and 6.

According to the ongoing investigation by the Circle of Environmental Policies, the Xinrun 579 fled the scene. Although it flies the Vanuatu flag, “it is not a precarious wooden fishing boat barely navigating the rough Southern Seas. Nor does it belong to a company from the small islands of just 12,000 square kilometers. Instead, it is a high-capacity, state-of-the-art trawler recently launched.”

Photo: Argentine Coast Guard (PNA)

Schvartzman confirmed to InfoBae that the owner of the Xinrun 579 is the company Xinrun Ocean Vanuatu Co. Ltd, a subsidiary of Xinrun Ocean Co. Ltd, which is Chinese-owned.

Camouflage

“It is, in reality, a Chinese fishing vessel using a flag of convenience to hide its true identity, thus covering up illicit activities such as illegal fishing in Argentine waters. The practice of camouflaging vessels under another flag is well-known among the most ‘crafty’ or pirate ships. China not only uses fishing vessels to conceal illicit activities in the South Atlantic but also deploys its ‘mother ships’ or reefers flying Panama's flag—a country recognized for being a ‘front’ or a dedicated FOC registry,” says a preliminary text of the investigation. These maneuvers, it continues, add to others and “slowly allow China to de facto take possession of resources and the geography of the South Atlantic, including Argentina's EEZ.”

The investigation revealed that so far in 2025, “small fleets” from Vanuatu and Cameroon, which actually belong to Chinese companies, have arrived in the South Atlantic. These fleets are “used to hide illicit activities such as illegal fishing and human trafficking, avoiding sanctions and bad publicity falling on China.”

Vanuatu flag Xinrun fleet coming from the port of Shidao-China © GFW:MilkoSchvartzman

Moreover, the report notes, “these vessels not only belong to Chinese companies and send their catch to the Asian country, but they are captained by Chinese officers. Some of these ships use the Port of Montevideo for logistical support. This group of vessels constantly navigates the imaginary boundary line between Argentine waters and international waters. The activities of this fleet are subsidized and controlled by the Chinese state.”

Negotiations with Santa Cruz Province

In August last year, an international investigation exposed how Chinese companies are acquiring Argentine fishing fleets to the extent that they already own more than half of the squid-fishing fleet. While this is a legal practice, the fleet thus “reflagged” becomes subject to Argentine law, primarily under the Federal Fisheries Regime.

The Circle of Environmental Policies’ study also highlights another ongoing situation—a preliminary agreement between the province of Santa Cruz and a Chinese company with a history of human rights abuses and illegal fishing in African countries and even within Argentine waters.

F/V/ 'Xinrun 579'. © GFW:MilkoSchvartzman. Click on the image to enlarge it.

According to Schvartzman, Argentina must ratify international agreements to combat the expansion of destructive fishing fleets. The most urgent agreements, he stated, include the World Trade Organization (WTO) ban on fishing subsidies and the International Maritime Organization treaty on “Safety of Fishing Vessels.” Both have been approved by Congress and await ratification by the National Executive.

Additionally, the UN High Seas Treaty on Biological Diversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) and the FAO’s Port State Measures Agreement to combat illegal fishing remain pending ratification.

By December 2024, the Coast Guard had already reported the arrival of at least 60 vessels—mostly Chinese—traveling through the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean via the Strait of Magellan after sequentially fishing off the coasts of Ecuador, Peru, and Chile.

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