In an attempt to divert attention from the political and administrative labyrinth in which it became entangled after repudiating the presence of the British tanker VS PROMISE in the port of Ushuaia, the government of Gustavo Melella deployed a press operation (including a string of idiots); directed through friendly media, leaking spreadsheets from the Argentine Naval Prefecture (PNA) to try to transfer the responsibility for the control of hydrocarbon exports to the federal authorities.

However, the comparison of that same official documentation —which is part of the files processed by the Fuegian administration itself— only serves to confirm the direct intervention, full knowledge and validation that the provincial State exercised over the operation of the tanker at the Río Cullen monobuoy , where the royalties of the Fuegian subsoil resources were settled and collected.

The documentary evidence that disproves the official denial

Far from exonerating the provincial Executive, the cross-referencing of electronic dispatches from the Prefecture and the presentations of maritime agencies to the Fuegian bodies shows that all the technical data, the colonial flag and the destination of the cargo were in the possession of the Government of Tierra del Fuego before the ship arrived in Ushuaia.

                    CROSSING OF OFFICIAL INSTRUMENTS

1. PNA ORDER N. 116401 (Entered 08/12/2026 - 08:00 am):              

 • Vessel: VS PROMISE | IMO: 9351438 | Flag: ISLE OF MAN.            

 • Load status: In ballast (empty ) | Origin: Los Angeles (USA).

 2. NOTA CRUISING USHUAIA S.A. A LA DPP (19/08/2026):                     

• Reports arrival, registration and formal flag: ISLE OF MAN.             │

• Delivery of Cargo Manifest and General Declaration to the Province.

• Loaded volume: 22,464,570 tons (22,464,570 kg) of crude oil.     

• Final destination of the export : Nederland, Texas (United States). 

3. PNA DISPATCH No. 117292 (Departure 13/08/2026 - 18:30 hs):               

• Status: Loaded with 22,464 MT of hydrocarbons | Draft: 9 meters.  

• Declared immediate destination: Magallanes Anomalies Area / Jurisdiction │

1.    Formal notification from the Maritime Agency: Through an official note submitted on August 19, 2026, to the General Directorate of the Port of Río Grande (DPP), the company Cruising Ushuaia SA (represented by the maritime agent Federico A. Moya) formalized the delivery of the General Declaration of Entry and Exit , the cargo manifests , and the tonnage certificate for the “tanker VS PROMISE, flying the Isle of Man flag.” In said public document, the agency notified the Province that the vessel loaded 22,464.57 tons of crude oil at the northern monobuoy, with its final destination being Nederland-Texas (United States) .

2.    The Prefecture's dispatch records in the Hydrocarbons files: The electronic dispatch forms ( No. 116401 for Entry and No. 117292 for Exit), intentionally leaked to the press, confirm that the maritime authority registered the entry of the vessel in ballast from Los Angeles on August 12 and authorized its departure on August 13, already loaded with 22,464 tons of hydrocarbons. These certificates are part of the documentation that operators are required to submit to the Provincial Hydrocarbons Secretariat for the royalty audit and the preparation of the Certificate of Origin.

The distraction maneuver: mixing nautical safety with mastery of the resource

The media operation promoted by the ruling party attempts to confuse public opinion by conflating two completely different legal issues:

To claim that the Naval Prefecture is politically responsible for a UK-flagged vessel exporting Tierra del Fuego crude is a technical misrepresentation. The Prefecture dispatches vessels in accordance with international maritime law; it is the provincial government that delivers the oil, inspects the Cullen tanks, authorizes the volume, and collects port fees and royalties, and also notifies the relevant national agencies.

The labyrinth of provincial management

The documentary sequence exposes the inconsistency of the Government House:

Official documents confirm that the Tierra del Fuego government was not a mere bystander: it processed the documentation bearing the British flag, oversaw the crude oil cargo, paid the port fees, and certified the departure of the strategic resource . The leak of maritime dispatches confirms that the provincial government possessed all the technical and administrative information about the vessel while publicly maintaining an unfounded narrative of condemnation.