This is a list of hostile incidents at the Argentine border. This timeline does not include events from the 1982 Falklands War, nor the 1978 peak of the Beagle crisis with Chile. It should be note that Argentina's use of force against Chile and the United Kingdom has been the exception rather than the rule, and some of the hostile acts or armed incidents appear to have been caused by zealous local commanders, and not as the result of a widespread strategy. Most of the naval incidents involve illegal fishing boats predating squids and fish species outside exploitation seasons and allowed seizing by the Argentine law in Argentine Exclusive Economic Zone waters.

Incidents

; 9 June 1958 : The Argentine Navy destroyer ARA ''San Juan'' shelled and destroyed a Chilean lighthouse in the unpopulated Snipe islet in the

Beagle Channel Beagle Channel (; Yahgan: ''Onašaga'') is a strait in the Tierra del Fuego Archipelago, on the extreme southern tip of South America between Chile and Argentina. The channel separates the larger main island of Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego f ...

, during the

Snipe incident The Snipe incident was a military incident that took place between Chile and Argentina during 1958 as a result of a disputed border line in the Beagle Channel. The two countries disagreed about the sovereign rights over the zone and Snipe, an un ...

. ; 6 November 1965 : The Argentine Gendarmerie shot and killed Chilean

Carabineros The was an armed carabiniers force of Spain under both the monarchy and the Second Spanish Republic, Second Republic. The formal mission of this paramilitary gendarmerie was to patrol the coasts and borders of the country, operating against ...

' Lieutenant Hernán Merino Correa during the

Laguna del Desierto incident The Laguna del Desierto incident occurred between four Chilean Carabineros and between 40 and 90 members of the Argentine National Gendarmerie and took place in an area south of O'Higgins/San Martín Lake on 6 November 1965, resulting in one li ...

. ; 28 September 1966 : A group of 18 Argentine nationalist militants hijacked a civilian Aerolineas Argentinas aircraft whilst flying over Puerto Santa Cruz and forced the captain at gunpoint to land in the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouze ...

, where they took several civilians hostage. The crisis was resolved 36 hours later when the hijackers agreed to release their hostages and return to Argentina for trial. ; October 1966 : Forces of the Tactical Divers Group conducted covert landings in the Falklands from the submarine . ; 29 November 1967 : The was shelled by the from

Ushuaia Ushuaia ( , ) is the capital of Tierra del Fuego, Antártida e Islas del Atlántico Sur Province, Argentina. With a population of nearly 75,000 and a location below the 54th parallel south latitude, Ushuaia claims the title of world's souther ...

's harbour. ; 24 June 1968 : The Argentine destroyer ARA ''Santa Cruz'' found the Soviet trawlers ''Pavlovo'' and ''Golfstrim'' fishing in Argentine territorial waters. ''Pavlovo'' managed to slip away, but ''Golfstrim'' was hit by two 40 mm rounds fired by the destroyer and captured. The fishing vessel was escorted to Mar del Plata, where she was released on 9 July after paying a $ 25,000 fine. ; 4 February 1976 : The Argentine destroyer fired warning shots at the British research ship . ; 3–4 October 1977 : The Argentine Navy shelled and captured the Soviet trawler ''Prokopyevsk'' and the Bulgarians ''Ofelia'' and ''Aurelia'' off

Puerto Madryn Puerto Madryn (; cy, Porth Madryn), also known as ''Madryn'', is a city in the province of Chubut in Argentine Patagonia. It is the capital of the Viedma Department, and has about 93,995 inhabitants according to the last census in 2010. Puer ...

. Three Argentine seamen died from drowning and one Bulgarian sailor was wounded. ; 19 October 1984 : According to the Chilean Ministry of Defense, the

Argentine Army The Argentine Army ( es, Ejército Argentino, EA) is the land force branch of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic and the senior military service of Argentina. Under the Argentine Constitution, the president of Argentina is the commander- ...

fired eight artillery rounds at a Chilean lighthouse at Punta Gusanos, near

Puerto Williams Puerto Williams (; Spanish for "Port Williams") is the city, port and naval base on Navarino Island in Chile. It faces the Beagle Channel. It is the capital of the Chilean Antarctic Province, one of four provinces in the Magellan and Chilean An ...

. ;28 May 1986 : The Argentine patrol vessel shelled and sunk the Taiwanese trawler ''Chian-der 3''. Two Taiwanese fishermen were killed; four others were injured. ; 5 July 1991 : The British trawler ''Pict'', which had been part of the British Task Force in the Falklands War as an auxiliary minesweeper, was captured by the patrol boat , from the Argentine Naval Prefecture.Buques Pesqueros extranjeros capturados por los Guardacostas Clase "Halcón" de la PNA (1985–2020)
by Mariano Agostini ; 1995 :According to British reports, the Argentine corvette ARA ''Granville'' harassed seven trawlers around Falklands waters and illuminated RFA ''Diligence'' with her radar. ; 5 February 2000 : The Argentine corvette shelled and captured the Taiwanese trawler ''Hou Chun 101 ''off San Jorge Gulf. ; 12 June 2002 : The Argentine Naval Prefecture's patrol boat shelled and damaged the Russian squid trawler ''Odoyevsk ''off Puerto Madryn. ; 11 February 2004 : The Argentine corvette shelled and sunk the Taiwanese trawler ''Jim Chin Tsai ''off Comodoro Rivadavia. ; 15 March 2004 : The icebreaker entered a maritime area designated as conservation zones under the jurisdiction of the

and issued demands for other ships to identify themselves. ; 20 February 2006 : The British squid trawler ''John Cheek ''was seized by the patrol boat from the Argentine Naval Prefecture. ; 14 March 2016 : The Argentine patrol vessel shelled and sunk the illegal Chinese fishing trawler ''

Lu Yan Yuan Yu 010 Lu Yan Yuan Yu 010 was a fishing trawler registered in China.

Footnotes

{{Territorial disputes involving Argentina Incidents Foreign relations of Argentina International maritime incidents Maritime incidents in Argentina Political history of Argentina Territorial disputes of Argentina