MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina now reportedly redlights RRS James Cook mission

The Foreign Ministry's reported decision had negative repercussions within the Libertarian government of President Javier Milei

Argentina's Foreign Ministry has been reported to have backtracked on the clearance previously given to the RRS James Cook to perform a scientific mission in the Argentine Sea. According to Buenos Aires' Clarín, Deputy Foreign Minister Eduardo Bustamante gave the order.

Despite citing environmental concerns, Bustamante is believed to have yielded to pressure from groups claiming that a British-flagged vessel would violate Article 27 bis of Law 24,922 banning anyone who maintains a “legal, economic, or beneficial relationship” with the occupants of the Malvinas Islands from operating in national waters. In addition, the mission could be in breach of Law 26,659 concerning the conditions for the exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons on the Argentine Continental Shelf.

Chubut argued that the use of seismic cannons could generate adverse impacts on the southern right whale, whose migratory route coincides with the study area and Buenos Aires concurred after the Federal Fishing Council (CFP) approved the mission on the condition that Articles 9 and 23 of the Federal Fisheries Law (24.922) regarding catch quotas be complied with.

The RRS James Cook is a scientific vessel operated by the Natural Environment Research Council of the United Kingdom (NERC) and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). More specifically, the ship's experts plan to conduct The Atlantic Meridional Transect (AMT) project of the National Oceanography Center which is a part of the Atlantic Climate and Environment Strategic Science - Atlantis initiative, as well as the University of Exeter's COSSMoSS (Capturing Oceanic Submesoscales, Stirring, and Mixing with Sound and Simulations), which seeks to “deepen the understanding of submesoscale oceanic fluxes and internal dynamics in areas of inter-basin exchange in the Southwest Atlantic.”

Bustamante's reported decision had negative repercussions within the Libertarian government of President Javier Milei, which is seeking to become a global partner of the North Atlantic Alliance (NATO). Argentina's position was due to be reviewed by NATO this week as US President-elect Donald J. Trump threatens to reconsider his country's commitment to the alliance, which it greatly funds.

The vessel is still scheduled to perform her assignments between Dec. 26 and 30, 2024, and from Jan. 2 to 30, 2025, and is to carry Argentine Navy personnel and researchers from the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) to delve into the “issue of ocean currents and climate change.” According to MercoPress sources, the vessel was in the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday off the coast of Morocco en route to the Argentine capital. Since 2017 UKRI has been working jointly with Argentine scientists and the initiative remained unaltered under Presidents Mauricio Macri and Alberto Fernández.

Clarín pointed out that since Diana Mondino was removed from the Foreign Ministry and Gerardo Werthein took over, the position of spokesperson has not been filled so there was no statement nor anybody who could corroborate or deny these reports. While this new chapter in Argentine-UK relations unfolds, issues like the weekly flight between Sao Paulo and Mount Pleasant with a monthly stopover in Cordoba remain to be fully approved as humanitarian trips for family members of those fallen in the 1982 war have resumed.

Former Malvinas Secretary Guillermo Carmona wrote to the CFP: “All the information of our sea available to the usurpers of #Malvinas: they authorize the British ship RRS James Cook to carry out scientific research activities in Argentine jurisdictional waters. New affront to national sovereignty.”

(See also: Argentina authorizes James Cook missions in South Atlantic)