The presence of the crude oil tanker VS PROMISE at the commercial dock in the port of Ushuaia generated surprise and concern within the political and social spheres of Tierra del Fuego. The vessel, a steel behemoth measuring 228.6 meters in length, 32.57 meters in beam, and with a gross tonnage capacity of approximately 70,000 to 73,600 tons (DWT) , displays the flag of the United Kingdom (Isle of Man Registry) on its stern and in international shipping records.

The stop in the capital of Tierra del Fuego was not an isolated arrival of international transit navigation: according to satellite tracking through AIS systems and port records, the tanker remained operating until August 13 at the Río Cullen monobuoy , on the northern Atlantic coast of Isla Grande, the terminal from where the oil consortium headed by Total Austral (TotalEnergies) pumps and exports the crude extracted offshore in the Austral Marine Basin.

X-ray of the giant: cargo capacity and shipowners

According to the databases of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and commercial maritime records:

              TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS: OIL TANKER VS PROMISE

 • Identification : IMO 9351438 / Flag: UNITED KINGDOM ( Isle of Man)

 • Dimensions : Length: 228.6 m | Beam: 32.57 m | Current draft: 9.0 m

 • Ship Type : Crude Oil Tanker (Panamax / LR1)                        │

 • Cargo Capacity : ~70,000 DWT | ~80,000 m³ | +500,000 barrels crude oil

 • Owner / Registration : Valloeby Promise Ltd (Douglas, Isle of Man, UK)

 • Technical Operator : Hellespont Ship Management ( Hamburg, Germany)

The operation in Cullen and the necessary authorizations

The vessel's presence on the Atlantic coast of Tierra del Fuego is not limited to its subsequent urban mooring in Ushuaia. According to records on the Marinetraffic platform , the ship's transponder confirmed that it departed from the Río Cullen marine monobuoy on August 13 at 5:28 PM. Initially, this could have been to carry out connection and loading maneuvers related to production at the Tierra del Fuego offshore fields (Hidra, Aries, Carina, Vega Pléyade). After remaining anchored for operational maneuvers and waiting in the waters of the Beagle Channel, it finally docked at the commercial pier in Ushuaia at 7:08 AM on August 24. In any case,

For an oil tanker to operate at the Cullen monobuoy and access maritime terminals under provincial and national jurisdiction, it must pass a strict inspection and permitting process:

1.    Secretariat of Hydrocarbons / Energy of Tierra del Fuego: In its capacity as the implementing authority for provincial hydrocarbon resources within the framework of the "Short Law" of Hydrocarbons (National Law 26,197), it is the provincial body that must authorize, coordinate and oversee the dispatch volumes, extraction balances and the environmental and operational protocols of the export terminals on land and in shallow waters.

2.    Argentine Naval Prefecture and Provincial Directorate of Ports (DPP): As maritime and port authorities, respectively, they grant entry and exit permits, navigation safety control, pilotage and the allocation of mooring sites at the Ushuaia dock.

3.    Energy Secretariat and National Customs: They intervene in crude oil export permits and customs fiscal control of foreign currency and shipments.

The central issue in the growing debate in Tierra del Fuego, emerging in public opinion, is whether the presence of the vessel is violating Provincial Law No. 852 ("Gaucho Rivero Law" ) —regulation that sanctions vessels linked to the logistics of illegitimate exploration directly in the Malvinas area— , or whether it is linked exclusively to the political, regulatory and administrative responsibility of the authorities of Tierra del Fuego and the Nation in validating that the logistics of exporting Fuegian hydrocarbons be operated by ships with a British flag without an official public explanation of how the operation was contracted and who authorized it.

The backdrop: TotalEnergies, Project Phoenix and the shadow of Harbour Energy

The presence of VS PROMISE cannot be dissociated from the contradictions of energy policy and geopolitics in the Southern Marine Basin .

The crude oil extracted in northern Tierra del Fuego is operated by the consortium made up of the French company TotalEnergies (main operator), the German company Wintershall Dea and Pan American Energy (PAE) , the same consortium that is carrying out the Fénix offshore gas megaproject.

However, the corporate map underwent a mutation: the British company Harbour Energy finalized the absorption of Wintershall Dea's exploration and production assets globally, gaining direct involvement in the offshore fields of Tierra del Fuego.

The fact is politically sensitive: Harbour Energy operated in the Malvina Islands, controlling 65% of the shares in the Sea Lion oil project in the archipelago's North Basin before transferring its stake to Navitas Petroleum. This activity in the Malvinas was declared illegal and clandestine by the National Energy Secretariat under the terms of National Law No. 26,659 (Solanas Law), which prohibits companies or groups that have participated without authorization in hydrocarbon exploration on the usurped continental shelf from operating in Argentine territory.

The urgent questions the Government must answer

The image of the British oil tanker moored off the coast of Ushuaia—meters from monuments to the fallen and in the capital of the province that has the Malvina Islands and the maritime spaces of the South Atlantic under its constitutional jurisdiction—exposes a lack of explanations that directly challenges the provincial and national administration:

While the ship remains moored at the Ushuaia dock, the presence of the VS PROMISE exposes the cracks between sovereign discourse and the commercial gears of multinational hydrocarbon companies in southern Argentina.