Argentina angry as Malvinas-Chile shipping route set for revival
Business leaders from islands arrive in Punta Arenas to relaunch a maritime link, as Argentina seeks to block the Sea Lion oil project. Leer más
The Falkland Islands Government has arrived in southern Chile to re-establish a maritime shipping route between their ports and Punta Arenas. This move comes amid tensions as President Javier Milei's government aims to halt an oil project in the disputed Malvinas archipelago, controlled by the UK and claimed by Argentina. Milei's administration fears Chile might provide logistical support for the Sea Lion oil project, with drilling set to begin in the South Atlantic next year.
Argentina has given the UK two weeks to take measures to stop hydrocarbon exploration, threatening to take the matter to international courts. Falkland Islands economic development deputy Louise Ellis clarified that the new shipping route has nothing to do with the Sea Lion project and is primarily for importing construction materials and food.
The route, previously deemed unviable in the 2000s, will operate monthly with a 2,600 cubic meter capacity vessel, linking the islands to Chile around 900 kilometers away and Montevideo about 2,000 kilometers away. Argentine Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno warned Chile against providing any logistical aid for the oil and fisheries exploitation in the Malvinas, a stance supported by Chilean President José Antonio Kast. Argentina lost a war against the UK in 1982 while trying to regain control of the islands.
Written by urgent.news from Buenos Aires Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
