Indian Navy tracked Chinese 'survey' ship in Bay of Bengal for 36 days

Tribune News Service

Ajay Banerjee

New Delhi, October 27

Chinese vessel Shi Yan-6 that entered Sri Lanka’s Colombo port on October 25 after a 36-day “survey” in parts of the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean, was tracked real time by the Indian Navy with the ship’s captain subtly being made aware that the vessel was under watch.

During the 36-day period starting September 19 — when the Chinese ship entered the Bay of Bengal from the Strait of Malacca till its docking at Colombo — Navy’s warships and surveillance planes and drones tracked it. “The Chinese ship did not enter the Indian exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and remained in international waters,” a source in the defence establishment said. The EEZ is 200 nautical miles (370 km) from the coast of a country.

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The ship came closest to India when it was around 250 nautical miles east of Chennai.

“A series of steps were taken to ensure that the Chinese vessel remains outside the EEZ,” sources said. In international waters, it did cross the part where undersea inter-continental Internet cables are laid.

The Chinese ship also spent some eight days over an under-sea ridge (Ninety East Ridge) that lies west of the Strait of Mallaca and south of the Andaman Nicobar Islands. In the past, there have been international surveys of the Ninety East Ridge for its hydrocarbon potential and sediments of rare earths (used in making semi-conductors).

“Shi Yan-6 was given permission to enter the (Colombo) port for replenishment,” a Sri Lankan foreign ministry spokesperson was earlier quoted by news agency PTI.

The Chinese research vessel is collaborating with Sri Lanka’s National Aquatic Resource Research and Development Agency.

India sees Shi Yan-6 as the vessel conducting seabed experiments over future submarine operations of the Chinese navy. The vessel is equipped to conduct a variety of oceanographic, marine geology and marine ecology experiments. India believes that these survey ships work under the guise of ‘scientific examinations’, but the data is used for war-waging purposes.

The data is of immense significance for Chinese submarines manoeuvring through the shallow waters of the Malacca Strait and traversing the eastern Indian Ocean.

Last month, the US expressed concern to Sri Lanka about the scheduled visit of the Chinese research ship to the island nation. US Under Secretary Victoria Nuland, who met Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Ali Sabry in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session, had raised concerns about Shi Yan-6.

A statement from the Chinese state broadcaster, China Global Television Network, said Shi Yan-6 was intended to enhance scientific research cooperation and exchanges with countries along the Maritime Silk Road.

The research initiative has been organised by the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, a division of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The vessel is slated to undertake 28 scientific research projects, involving 13 research teams on board, covering a distance exceeding 12,000 nautical miles.

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