Chinese spy ship Jiang Yang Hong 3 that stopped at Maldives port leaves country: Report
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman has previously defended the port call.
Male:
A 4,500-tonne high-tech Chinese spy ship, which had docked here last week as a research vessel, has departed from the shores of the Maldives, local media reports said on Wednesday.
Officially, the Chinese ship Jiang Yang Hong 3 was here “to make a port call for the rotation and replenishment of its personnel”. “Jiang Yang Hong 03 has returned to the border of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the Maldives after docking in Male on 22 February. However, despite departing from the port of Male, tracking sites showed the last sighting of the ship near Hulhumale two days later. Hints have shown earlier,” news portal Adhadhu.com said.
Hulhumale is less than 10 km north-east of Malé. The ship grounded at Thilafushi, about 7.5 km west of Malé, on 23 February.
“The ship is expected to have switched off the tracking system, which it also did en route to Male on January 22 when it was in the Java Sea off the coast of Indonesia,” the report said.
The news portal also provided some details about the type of ship Jiang Yang Hong 03. The 100 meter long ship was added to the fleet of China’s State Oceanic Administration (SOA) in 2016. It is currently the only 4,500 ton ship in China. It said that since 2019, China has also been using the ship to conduct ‘remote water’ and ‘deep sea’ surveys in its Pilot Ocean Laboratory.
It added that the ship can also be used for studies on salinity, microbial genetic studies, underwater mineral exploration and underwater life and environment studies. It has data buoys that can measure ocean currents, waves and important environmental information. The report said that these buoys will provide real-time satellite information to the Chinese government.
On January 5, Sri Lanka denied entry to Jiang Yang Hong 03, saying it had decided to impose a one-year ban on entry of foreign research vessels into its waters amid India’s concerns over Chinese research vessels stopping in its neighbourhood. has announced.
Incidentally, the Chinese ship was present near the India-Maldives-Sri Lanka trilateral Friendship-16 exercise held in the sea off Male between February 22 and 25.
Earlier on January 23, the new China-friendly Maldivian government said it had given permission to the research vessel equipped to stop at Male port to conduct research and survey, adding that the stop was for replenishment and that “when An American think-tank has alleged that China has a huge fleet of “scientific research” vessels for military purposes, particularly submarine operations, including in the Indian Ocean region. is collecting data from the oceans, although Beijing has denied the allegation. The operations of Chinese vessels are in line with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson previously defended the port call by a Chinese research ship in the Maldives, saying, “China’s scientific research activities in relevant waters are for peaceful purposes and are aimed at contributing to humanity’s scientific understanding of the ocean.” have to give.”
The Maldives’ proximity to India, barely 70 nautical miles from Minicoy Island in Lakshadweep and 300 nautical miles from the west coast of the mainland, and its location at the hub of commercial sea routes running through the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) make it an important destination. makes. Strategic importance.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)