A US patrol observes Chinese and Russian military vessels

• A Chinese guided missile cruiser was reportedly spotted by a US Coast Guard ship.
• Two other Chinese naval ships and four Russian Navy vessels were found.
• The US Coast Guard Cutter Kimball saw the Renhai CG 101 missile cruiser.

A Chinese guided missile cruiser was reportedly spotted by a US Coast Guard ship on routine patrol in the Bering Sea off Alaska. It was later found to be travelling alongside two other Chinese naval ships and four Russian Navy ships.

The US Coast Guard Cutter Kimball, on routine patrol on September 19, saw the Renhai CG 101 missile cruiser, the coast guard reported in a statement on Monday. It was located about 138 kilometres (86 miles) north of Alaska’s Kiska Island.

The Renhai was later seen travelling “in a single formation with additional Chinese and Russian ships, including a destroyer, as a combined surface action group operating in the US Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ),” according to the Coast Guard.

The 127-meter (418-foot) long Kimball, which is headquartered in Hawaii, reported that the Chinese and Russian ships eventually broke up their formation of an action group for tactical operations and dispersed.

According to a statement from the US Coast Guard, the Kimball is now following the rules of Operation Frontier Sentinel, which calls for “presence with presence” when dealing with “strategic competitors” who are sailing in or near US seas.

A US C-130 Hercules aircraft from the Coast Guard station in Kodiak, Alaska, had given air support for the Kimball.

Rear Admiral Nathan Moore, commander of the Seventeenth Coast Guard District, stated that although the formation had operated in accordance with international laws and standards, “we will meet presence-with-presence to ensure there are no disruptions to US interests in the maritime environment around Alaska.”

A month after NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg issued a warning about China’s rising interest in the Arctic and Russia’s military buildup there, Chinese and Russian naval forces engaged the US coast guard craft.

According to Stoltenberg, Russia has opened hundreds of new and former Soviet-era Arctic military assets, including deep-water ports and airfields, and established a new Arctic Command.

China has proclaimed itself a “near Arctic” state and is currently planning to construct the largest icebreaker in history, he said.

Additionally, Beijing and Moscow have committed to stepping up their practical collaboration in the Arctic. In the North of Canada, Stoltenberg stated that this is a part of a growing strategic relationship that challenges our values and interests.

The recent run-in between US and Chinese Navy ships in the area took place off Kiska Island.

Chinese ships were met by US Coast Guard cutters in the North Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea in September 2021, around 80 km (50 miles) off the Aleutian Islands.

The first known run-in with Chinese Navy ships in the Bering Sea’s international seas occurred in 2015, when three surface combatant ships, an amphibious ship, and a replenishment ship were reported in the area.

At the time, Barack Obama, the then-UN President, visited Alaska for three days at the same time as the Chinese ships’ stay.

The Coast Guard Cutter Kimball crew on a routine patrol in the Bering Sea encountered a People’s Republic of China Guided Missile Cruiser, Renhai CG 101, sailing approximately 75 nautical miles north of Kiska Island, Alaska, September 19, 2022. https://t.co/jInFcIblUq pic.twitter.com/Ax0pcte54h

— CoastGuardNews (@CoastGuardNews) September 27, 2022

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