A Russian intelligence ship came within 30 nautical miles of Alaska’s western islands earlier this week, the U.S. Coast Guard said on Friday, less than two weeks after Russian and Chinese bombers flew sorties over the same area.
An unidentified Vishnya-class spy ship was “detected and followed” on August 5 by the Coast Guard Cutter Alex Haley southeast of the Amukta Pass in the Aleutian Islands, within the U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ), the Coast Guard said.
“The Alex Haley did not communicate with the Russian vessel,” the statement said, but “followed the vessel as it transited east” in the north Pacific.
An HC-130 patrol plane was tasked from Alaska‘s Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak to observe the ship, the maritime law enforcement branch said. The airfield is part of Coast Guard Base Kodiak, the Alex Haley‘s home port.
“This type of monitoring of vessel activity is not outside of the normal,” the Coast Guard said.
Commander Steven Baldovsky, commanding officer of the Alex Haley, said the Coast Guard cutter “met presence with presence to ensure there were no disruptions to U.S. interests in the maritime environment around Alaska.”
Russia‘s foreign and defense ministries did not immediately respond to separate requests for comment about the maneuvers.
U.S. Coast Guard
International maritime law allows coastal states like the United States to claim an EEZ of up to 200 nautical miles [230 miles] from the shoreline, giving it exclusive rights to exploit the underwater resources there. But the area is not an extension of the territorial sea, which typically ends 12 nautical miles [13.8 miles] from the coast.
The U.S. Navy‘s Third Fleet, which is responsible for Northern Pacific waters including those around Alaska, did not immediately reply to an emailed inquiry about whether its vessels or aircraft were involved.
It was at least the second time in a month that the Coast Guard had detected foreign military vessels near the Aleutian Islands. In July, four Chinese navy ships were spotted north of the islands in the Bering Sea.
Last year, nearly a dozen Russian and Chinese ships were in the same area as part of an annual joint exercise, with the neighbors now training their warships further from the west Pacific.
Two weeks ago, U.S. and Canadian fighter jets were scrambled to intercept an air group of Russian and Chinese strategic bombers patrolling Alaska’s air defense zone. It was the first time bombers from both nations had operated together that way, officials said.
Russia is an Arctic power, with its Northern Fleet garrisoned in the closed town of Severomorsk, in the northwestern Murmansk region in the Arctic Circle.
The Northern Fleet operates two of the Russian navy’s seven Soviet-built Vishnya-class signals intelligence ships, the Tavriya and the Viktor Leonov. The latter has been detected near U.S. waters before and also called on Cuba’s Havana port.
Russian ships frequently traverse the Bering Sea to reach the Chukchi Sea in the Arctic Ocean, for research and other strategic deployments.
However, the U.S. Defense Department is witnessing increased interest from China in the region, especially as the changing climates creates alternative shipping routes near the North Pole.
“We’ve seen growing cooperation between the [People’s Republic of China] and Russia in the Arctic, commercially, with the PRC being a major funder of Russian energy exploitation in the Arctic, and increasingly militarily, with Russia and China conducting joint exercises off the coast of Alaska,” said Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks said last month in the Pentagon‘s updated Arctic strategy.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the document contained “examples of confrontation” by the U.S. government.