U.S. Coast Guard officials said on Saturday, Aug. 16, that they are continuing their response to five Chinese research vessels operating in the U.S. Arctic.
The Coast Guard Arctic District has been monitoring this activity and deployed a C-130J Hercules fixed-wing aircraft from Air Station Kodiak on Aug. 13 to query the vessels.
The Coast Guard, in conjunction with the U.S. Northern Command and Alaskan Command, constantly monitors the activity of foreign vessels operating in and near U.S. waters in support of homeland defense and security efforts.
The Coast Guard, the only U.S. surface presence in the Arctic, recently commissioned its newest polar icebreaker, Storis, and the newest Sentinel-class fast response cutter, Earl Cunningham.
According to Rear Adm. Bob Little, commander, U.S. Coast Guard Arctic District, the addition of the Storis and Earl Cunningham increases the Coast Guard's ability to control, secure, and defend Alaska border and maritime approaches.
The Coast Guard identified the five Chinese research vessels as Xue Long 2, China-flagged; Shen Hai Yi Hao, China-flagged; Zhong Shan Da Xue Ji Di, Liberia-flagged; Ji Di, China-flagged; and Tan Suo San Hao, China-flagged.
The Coast Guard announcement came as the annual joint patrol of the Russian and Chinese naval vessels got underway in the North Pacific Ocean.
Newsweek magazine reported that the U.S. Navy's Third Fleet confirmed on Aug. 13 that the destroyer USS Carl M. Levin was embarked on "routine operations" to "support maritime homeland defense."
Newsweek's China news reporter Ryan Chan also noted that ships from both countries reached a Russian port in the Far East, some 575 miles from Attu, the westernmost island in Alaska's Aleutian Islands.
The United States Naval Institute (USNI) also reported the presence of the Russian Navy and People's Liberation Army Navy sailing together in the northwestern Pacific Ocean.
Meanwhile, west of Dutch Harbor, commercial fisheries are underway for halibut, black cod, and groundfish, with about a dozen longliners and at least one trawler in the area.
USNI, in a statement released on Aug. 15, quoted a Russian Minister of Defense news release saying that their main objectives of the joint patrol "are to strengthen naval cooperation between the countries, maintain stability in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as monitor the marine area and protect maritime economic facilities of the Russian Federation and China."
USNI, based in Annapolis, Md., is a private, non-profit professional military association that provides a forum for discussion and debate on national security issues, particularly those relevant to the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard. USNI offers independent, nonpartisan forums for debate of national security issues.
