Two liners prevented from docking at Ushuaia on country's southern tip as tensions build over future of Falkland Islands

This article is more than 8 years old

This article is more than 8 years old

Two British cruise liners were turned away from an Argentine port as tensions mounted over the future of the Falkland Islands.

The P&O Cruises' ship Adonia and the Princess Cruises' vessel Star Princess were not allowed to dock at Ushuaia on the southern tip of Argentina.

The incidents came as Britain's formal announcement of a huge marine protection area around South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands threatened to further ratchet up ill-feeling in Buenos Aires.

Arturo Puricelli, the Argentine defence minster, said in December when the plans first became clear that it was "nothing more and nothing less than an attempt under the cover of protecting the environment to usurp a larger area".

His government also regards the deployment of Prince William to the Falklands with the 30th anniversary of the war approaching as provocative.

The ships were turned away by application of a Tierra del Fuego law passed six months ago which bans the docking of British military ships or ships involved in "the exploration or exploitation of natural resources" in the South Atlantic area.

Tierra de Fuego governor Fabiana Rios is said to have applied a wide interpretation of the new law at the request of 1982 war veterans.

"If we mean to cause some damage to the British, we have actually damaged all those who would have worked with that ship today," complained Marcelo Lieti, head of the Ushuaia Tourism Chamber.

Both cruise ships called at the Falklands on Saturday. A P&O Cruises spokesperson said the Adonia, on an 87-day trip which started in Southampton on 13 January, was now on its way to Punta Arenas, Chile. Its 710 British pasengers would get a refund on shore excursions planned for Ushuaia.

Princess Cruises said the Star Princess was on a 14-day South American cruise which started in Rio de Janeiro on February 18. The ship is on an 14-night cruise which departed Rio de Janeiro on February 18, 2012.

Argenina's president Cristina Kirchner is giving a major address later on Monday to mark the 200th anniversary of the Argentine flag. She was expected to make a major pronouncement on "the Malvinas" last week but it was postponed because of a serious train crash in Buenos Aires.

The new marine protection area covers more than a million square kilometres (four times the land area of the UK) around disputed overseas territories. The Foreign Office says it would "further protect the incredibly rich biodiversity of the islands, which has some of the most important and productive fish spawning grounds in the Southern Ocean."

It added: "The area is also home to seven species of globally threatened seabirds, including the wandering albatross, and so is of great international importance."

Foreign office minister Henry Bellingham said: "The declaration of a marine protected area around South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands clearly demonstrates the UK's effective environmental stewardship of this unique and remote part of the world.

"I am delighted that the UK has been able to demonstrate further evidence of our ongoing commitment to marine conservation and protection of the globally important biodiversity of our overseas territories."

South Georgia's wildlife recently featured in the BBC's Frozen Planet. Presenter David Attenborough said: "I am delighted to hear of the decision to create one of the world's largest marine reserves, which will help protect the unique and precious wildlife of South Georgia and Antarctica. This is extremely timely given the dramatic change that the polar regions are currently undergoing."

An RSPB spokesman said the waters around South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands "teem with life", adding: "Thankfully, this wealth has long been recognised by the UK and the islands' governments who have implemented forward thinking ways of protecting this richness.