RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Argentine flags of some 200 boats moored in the port of Punta del Este have taken over the Uruguayan peninsula after being unable to enter the country for almost two years due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Since the beginning of the summer season, the Prefecture of the Navy has dispatched more than 80 boats from Argentine ports, but with the warning that they could not return due to the lack of a “safe corridor.”
While 80,000 domestic tourists cross the border with Uruguay from one side to the other aboard passenger ships, their vehicles, and even airplanes, those who want to do so in private boats cannot cross the “puddle” today, due to a measure taken by the Health Department at the border, which depends on the country’s Ministry of Health. The affidavit and the negative PCR are not enough for this last group of vacationers.
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A large portion of the travelers who spend their vacations on the East Coast does so on commercial vessels such as Buquebus, Colonia Express, or on passenger cruise ships. And both the ports of the tourist ships and the cruise terminal Quinquela Martín are “safe corridors,” according to the Prefecture of the Navy.
However, they pointed out that “they are not authorized for the entry of pleasure boats”, that is, private boats.
All private boats were sent to Argentina with the information that they may not be able to return. “They are informed by the Argentine Maritime Authority [Prefectura Naval Argentina] that they must anticipate the conditions in the country before returning to Argentina,” reads a document that looks like an affidavit that boat owners must sign when leaving national waters, in addition to the paperwork that all tourists fill out when they leave the country.
The Ministry of Health clarified that the city and province of Buenos Aires have yet to submit the “protocols of safe corridors to verify sanitary requirements” required for entry into Argentina. Officials from the National Maritime Authority let it be known that despite the lack of safe corridors, they are currently working on the possibility of establishing one. However, there is no confirmation in mid-January, when the tourist season is at its peak.
“We have a complete agreement with all government agencies, and the prefecture has identified the private terminals that have agreed to provide berths of convenience,” it said. However, some questions remain before a measure that is unknown how it will work can take effect.
On the other hand, during procedures to clear a ship at an office of the Prefecture of the Navy in the north of Buenos Aires province, it was pointed out that there are other reasons besides the health corridor issue.
“Even when we were doing the paperwork to clear the ship, the person who was taking care of us told us that it was a political measure, that they didn’t want to let them in for ideological reasons,” said a shipowner in confidential conversations with La Nacion newspaper.
The exasperation of the owners of the boats stranded in Punta del Este grows as the season progresses and the date of their return approaches. After their vacation, they will have to return home by another means of transportation and leave their boat in Uruguayan waters.
This means that they cannot sail in their place of residence and that the additional cost of the mooring and the sailor’s salary, which must remain in port, are converted into dollars.
Despite widespread anger, the 200 owners of Argentine vessels moored in the port of Punta del Este seem oblivious to the national government’s restrictions. Most are confident that this problem will be resolved by the end of the season.