The Sinking of the Chian-der 3 was an incident occuring on 28 May 1986, when the Taiwanese

Taiwan

Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

-flagged trawler

Naval trawler

A naval trawler is a vessel built along the lines of a fishing trawler but fitted out for naval purposes. Naval trawlers were widely used during the First and Second world wars. Fishing trawlers were particularly suited for many naval requirements because they were robust boats designed to work...

 Chian-der 3 was detected, tracked, fired upon, set on fire and eventually sunk by the Coast Guard vessel GC-28 Prefecto Derbes of the Prefectura Naval Argentina, at a location 24 nmi (44.4 km; 27.6 mi) outside of the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

's Total Exclusion Zone

Total Exclusion Zone

The Total Exclusion Zone was an area declared by the United Kingdom 30 April 1982 covering a circle of from the centre of the Falkland Islands...

, which covers a circle of 200 nmi (370.4 km; 230.2 mi) from the centre of the Falklands Islands . Two Taiwanese fishermen were killed; four others were injured.

Background

The overlapping of the Exclusive Economic Zone

Exclusive Economic Zone

Under the law of the sea, an exclusive economic zone is a seazone over which a state has special rights over the exploration and use of marine resources, including production of energy from water and wind. It stretches from the seaward edge of the state's territorial sea out to 200 nautical...

of the Argentine mainland and the Falklands and the British exclusion zone for Argentine ships is used by fishing fleets in order to fish without permission, said the Argentine government.

According to an Argentine statement the trawler Chi-Fu 6 was detected fishing in the Argentine zone at 11:45, but she took refuge in the British zone. At 18:25 the trawler Chian-der 3 was spotted again within the Argentine zone of 200 nautical miles (230.2 mi). Despite requests to stop and warning shots being fired, the trawler escaped and was chased. At 21:05 the Argentine Captain stated that he saw that the trawler stopped and emitting smoke from the engine room. He ordered the rescue of the trawler's crew.

The Taiwan fishermen's union called it a "barbaric act" and the British government condemned it as "unjustifiable and excessive".