The US Coast Guard confirmed it is monitoring a suspicious Russian ship that has been sailing off the coast of Hawaii. The ship is believed to be a Russian intelligence vessel, the U.S. Coast Guard said in a statement Wednesday.
“In recent weeks, the U.S. Coast Guard has continued to monitor a Russian vessel, believed to be an intelligence gathering ship, off the coast of the Hawaiian Islands,” it said.
The area off the coast of Hawaii where the ship was spotted, known as the US economic exclusive zone (EEZ), is open for international ships to pass through, according to the statement.
It added that while ships can transit freely through the area, “foreign-flagged military vessels have often been observed operating and loitering within Coast Guard District Fourteen’s area of response.”
District Fourteen patrols the Coast Guard’s largest area of responsibility, taking up 14 million square miles of land and sea with some units stationed in Hawaii, Singapore and Japan.
“As part of our daily operations, we track all vessels in the Pacific area through surface and air assets and joint agency capabilities,” Commander Dave Milne, chief of External Affairs, said. “The Coast Guard operates in accordance with international laws of the sea to ensure all nations can do the same without fear or contest,” he added.
“This is especially critical to secure freedom of movement and navigation throughout the Blue Pacific.” Russia’s latest presence off the coast of North America follows a number of similar sightings over the past few years.
A Russian naval vessel was seen lingering near Alaska in September. Just a month before that, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) detected Russian surveillance planes flying in Alaska’s defense zone, according to the New York Post.
And in 2019, a Russian spy ship off the southeastern coast of the U.S. was observed operating in what US officials told CNN was an “unsafe manner.” (SOURCE)
