Argentina fires on Chinese vessel 'fishing illegally'

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – Argentina's coast guard says it has opened fire on a Chinese vessel illegally fishing in its waters.

Nobody was reportedly injured and the Chinese fishermen were not detained.

The Argentine Naval Prefecture said in a statement that its guards fired on the Jing Yuan 626 on Thursday after the squid fishing vessel was caught in an exclusive economic zone.

The coast guard said Friday that four other boats sailing under the Chinese flag tried to prevent the capture of the vessel by attempting to collide with coast guard boats.

The operation was called off by Argentina's foreign ministry after the vessel was chased for nearly eight hours.

Earlier in the month, the coast guard said it had detained a Spanish ship carrying more than 705,000 pounds (320,000 kilos) of illegal fish.