BUENOS AIRES The Argentine government sought on Tuesday to ease concerns about the possibility of a toxic spill by a British ship carrying nuclear waste around treacherous Cape Horn, saying the vessel Pacific Swan would not enter its territorial waters.

"The information given to us about the boat's planned route indicates it will pass around Cape Horn and it is not expected to enter Argentina's territorial waters," the Foreign Ministry said, responding to protests by local environmental groups.

The statement came as Argentine Navy planes spotted the Pacific Swan midway down Argentina's South Atlantic coast on the edge of its territorial waters.

Plans to transport the highly radioactive 80-ton cargo of French-processed, spent nuclear fuel around Cape Horn -- one of the world's most treacherous stretches of water -- has alarmed Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina and Chile, whose coastlines are on the planned route.

The Pacific Swan, which is owned by British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL), set sail from Cherbourg, France, on Dec. 19 with a cargo of Japanese nuclear reactor waste mixed with glass. The vessel is due to dock in Aomori in northern Japan in February.

The environmental group Greenpeace fears the passage around South America's southern tip could become the preferred route for transporting nuclear waste between Europe and Japan, replacing the traditional, shorter route through the Panama Canal.

(Reuter)