Juneau, Alaska.- A U.S. Coast Guard cutter sailing near Alaska’s Aleutian Islands encountered a Russian ship in international waters but within the U.S. exclusive economic zone, officials said.
The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Alex Haley spotted the vessel about 30 miles (48 kilometers) southeast of Amukta Pass on Monday, the Coast Guard said in a statement Friday. A helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak also spotted the vessel.
The ship was “transiting in international waters, but still within the United States Exclusive Economic Zone,” which extends 370 kilometers (200 nautical miles) from the U.S. coast, the statement said.
The Coast Guard vessel did not communicate with the Russian ship but tracked it as it moved east, the statement added.
“We met presence with presence to ensure there was no disruption to U.S. interests in the maritime environment around Alaska,” Commander Steven Baldovsky, the Alex Haley’s commanding officer, said in the statement.
In July, the U.S. Coast Guard spotted four Chinese military vessels patrolling north of Amchitka Pass in the Aleutian Islands, in international waters but also within the U.S. exclusive economic zone, officials said.
Later that month, Russian and Chinese bombers flew together for the first time in international airspace off the coast of Alaska, in a show of military cooperation that U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin described as a cause for concern for the United States.
The flights were not considered a threat, and the bombers were tracked and intercepted by American and Canadian fighter jets. But it was the first time Chinese bombers had flown inside Alaska’s Air Defense Identification Zone. And it was the first time Chinese and Russian aircraft had taken off from the same base in northeastern Russia.
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