Alarms have once again sounded loudly regarding the activity of China's distant-water fishing fleet in the South Atlantic . The vessel The fishing vessel Lu Qing Yuan Yu 205 , identified as part of the fleet subsidized by the Chinese State, was detected carrying out, for the third time, navigation patterns that are highly compatible with unauthorized mapping and scientific prospecting tasks on the Argentine Continental Shelf.

The complaint, promoted by marine conservation specialist Milko Schvartzman , supported by the Environmental Policy Circle and published by Argenports.com , underscores a serious and repeated challenge to national sovereignty and the protection of strategic resources.

The Pattern of Suspicion: Three Years of Anomalous Journeys

The Lu Qing Yuan Yu 205 has been flagged for a pattern of behavior that far exceeds typical fishing activity. Satellite data analyzed by the Environmental Policy Circle in 2023 had already documented that, since November 2022 , the vessel had been following slow, straight, and systematic routes in the Argentine Continental Shelf, an area where Argentina exercises exclusive sovereign rights for the exploration and exploitation of resources.

Information published by Agenda Malvinas in  2022 on the maneuvers carried out by the Lu Qing Yuan 205

"Slow, straight and systematic trajectories, identical to the patterns used for biological or geological studies," is the description that Milko Schvartzman repeats to describe the movements of the vessel, both in the original detection of 2022/2023 and in the more recent one of November 2025 .

These maneuvers, carried out without the express authorization of the Argentine State, suggest the possible execution of:

Sovereignty at risk in the face of official silence

The Argentine Continental Shelf, recognized and expanded by the UN, is a key area for the country's energy and food future. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is clear: no foreign vessel may conduct scientific studies in this area without prior permission .

The 2025 reoffending of the Lu Qing Yuan Yu 205 —a vessel with a history of operating in a fleet with a problematic record of Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing and allegations of labor violations— exposes the fragility of control and the alleged official apathy towards a potential sovereign crime .

The questions raised by the experts remain unanswered by the regulatory bodies:

To date, there have been no public communications from official Argentine bodies regarding this serious activity.

The passivity of Patagonia

The situation is aggravated by the perceived inaction of the governments with Atlantic coastlines in Patagonia (Tierra del Fuego, Santa Cruz and Chubut), provinces that are the direct custodians of these resources and that have historically had tense relations with foreign fleets.

In 2023, the complaint had already warned that this type of action could be related to initiatives to cede the operation and management of Patagonian ports to the eastern country, raising suspicions that illegal exploration could be a "preliminary step to some transfer of sovereignty" within the framework of controversial bilateral agreements with China.

The new detection of Lu Qing Yuan Yu 205 is an urgent call to action:

1.     Strengthen satellite surveillance and integrated monitoring.

2.     Demand diplomatic explanations from Beijing regarding the activities of its subsidized fleet.

3.     To guarantee the defense of sovereignty and the protection of the strategic resources of the Argentine Sea.

Meanwhile, a Chinese fishing vessel continues to "map" an area vital to Argentina, apparently behind the back of the State and under the passive gaze of national and Patagonian authorities.