The Government of the United States of America has reported that during January and February 2021 the US Coast Guard’s last generation ship “USCGC Stone” will perform its pre-inaugural voyage, on a journey that will include waters of the Southwestern Atlantic. The US Government expressed interest in the ship calling at an Argentine port, while committing to observe strict COVID-19 protocols in order to ensure the safety of the USCGC Stone crew and that of the staff of the port-of-call country.
The Argentine Government welcomed the visit by the USCGS Stone to its counterpart in our country, Argentina’s Prefectura Naval, which will take place at the port of Mar del Plata in February. The activities will be strictly formal. As a result, the visit agreed with the United States Government will not include any operational or cooperative activities. Therefore, it will not involve surveillance or fishing curb missions, which are carried out exclusively with resources and staff of the Argentine Government whose mission is to protect our sovereignty and our resources in the national maritime spaces and which during the last year captured three illegal foreign fishing ships, a number that had not been reached since 2005.
The visit by the USCGS Stone, which will include other countries in our region, is conducted within the framework of the institutional relationship that the Argentine Coastguard has with its United States counterpart.
