Several Chinese Research Vessels Monitored by US Coast Guard off Alaska
The Chinese research vessel Zhong Shan Da Xue Ji Di was recently photographed by an American Coast Guard aircraft. The vessel is sailing under a Liberian flag, but is owned and operated by the Chinese university Sun Yat-Sen. (Photo: US Coast Guard)
On Friday, the US Coast Guard announced that it was monitoring five Chinese research vessels operating in or close to American Arctic waters.
"The US Coast Guard detected and responded to two Chinese research vessels operating in the US Arctic and is currently monitoring a total of five similar vessels in or near the US Arctic," it wrote in a press release on Friday.
Furthermore, the following specific activity is described:
- On August 5, a US Coast Guard C-130J Hercules long range surveillance aircraft from Air Station Kodiak responded to the Chinese research vessels Ji Di and the Zhong Shan Da Xue Ji Di. Both vessels were transiting northeast in the Bering Sea.
- On August 6, the US Coast Guard Cutter Waesche again responded to the Zhong Shan Da Xue Ji Di as it was transiting north in the Chukchi Sea above the Arctic Circle, after passing through the Bering Strait.
- In July, Coast Guard Arctic District deployed a C-130J Hercules aircraft from Air Station Kodiak to query the Xue Long 2, another Chinese research vessel, approximately 290 NM north of Utqiagvik, Alaska.
"The presence of these vessels is consistent with a three-year trend of increased activity from Chinese research vessels operating in the U.S. Arctic. Last year, three Chinese research vessels conducted research operations north of the Bering Strait," stated the US Coast Guard.
Also, on Sunday, the USCGC Storis, the US Coast Guard’s first new icebreaker in 25 years, was formally commissioned in a ceremony in Juneau, Alaska.
