Correspondence
The Outlaw Ocean Project emailed the contact address for Arbumasa.
The email said: "We’re contacting you in light of our research on the practice of ‘flagging in’, whereby fishing vessels owned by companies in one country are flagged to another country in order to access that second country’s waters. We are not indicating explicitly or implicitly that flagging-in is illegal, we are just taking a look at the issue of flagging-in globally.
According to information published on the company website, Arbumasa is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Chinese corporation, Dalian Huafeng Aquatic Products. Records indicate that Arbumasa runs a fleet of at least nine vessels, several of which catch shrimp within Argentinian waters.
We understand from news reports that a crew member from the Arbumasa 1 was airlifted from the vessel by Argentine authorities due to a medical emergency in September 2023. His symptoms were reported to include severe back pain, chest pain, pain in the right side, and stomach pain.
In light of the above, we have the following questions for Arbumasa:
- Can you provide any further information about the cause or circumstances of the Arbumasa I crew member’s ailment in September 2023, and any update on his condition or recovery?
- As noted above, we are not indicating explicitly or implicitly that flagging-in is illegal, we are just taking a look at the issue of flagging-in globally. Can you please verify that Arbumasa operates Argentine-flagged vessels, and that Arbumasa is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dalian Huafeng Aquatic Products?
Please let us know your responses to the above questions by close of business on July 19, 2024, noting that all interactions remain on record."