A US coastguard cutter on routine patrol around Alaska’s Aleutian Islands came across a Russian ship in international waters but within the US exclusive economic zone, officials said.
The crew on the US coastguard Cutter Alex Haley on Monday detected the vessel about 48km (30 miles) southeast of the Amukta Pass, the coastguard said in a Friday statement.
A helicopter aircrew from the coastguard’s Air Station Kodiak also spotted the vessel.
The vessel was “transiting in international waters but still inside the US exclusive economic zone”, which extends 200 nautical miles (370km) from the US shoreline, according to the statement.
The coastguard vessel did not communicate with the Russian ship but followed it as it moved east, the statement said.
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Russian military drills fire missiles in Arctic sea near Alaska
Russian military drills fire missiles in Arctic sea near Alaska
“We met presence with presence to ensure there were no disruptions to US interests in the maritime environment around Alaska” Commander Steven Baldovsky, commanding officer of the Alex Haley, said in the statement.
In July, the coastguard while on patrol spotted four Chinese military ships north of the Amchitka Pass in the Aleutian Islands in international waters, but also within the US exclusive economic zone, officials said.
Russian and Chinese bombers later that month flew together for the first time in international airspace off the coast of Alaska, in a new show of expanding military cooperation that US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said at the time raises concerns.
The flights were not seen as a threat, and the bombers were tracked and intercepted by US and Canadian fighter planes.
But it was the first time that Chinese bomber aircraft flew within the Alaskan Air Defence Identification Zone. And it was the first time Chinese and Russian aircraft took off from the same base in northeast Russia.
