Two Chinese coast guard ships returned home on Thursday following the conclusion of a joint mission with their Russian counterparts that saw them reach the Arctic Ocean.
The ships left on September 13 from Zhoushan, a city in the eastern province of Zhejiang in China. They traveled more than 17,000 nautical miles during the 35-day mission, covering the Bering Sea, Chukchi Sea and Arctic Ocean, the Chinese coast guard said.
The long-distance deployment came as China has been expanding its coast guard presence in the Northern Pacific Ocean, conducting what it called fisheries law enforcement patrols. In July, it commenced a 45-day mission that transited more than 17,600 nautical miles.
According to a photo released by the Chinese coast guard, the joint fleet of China-Russia coast guards sailed in an undisclosed area where pieces of floating sea ice were visible.
On September 28, the United States Coast Guard spotted the Chinese vessels in the Bering Sea near Alaska as they transited northward to the Arctic Ocean. This is the northernmost location where the U.S. Coast Guard has so far encountered its counterpart from China.
Chinese coast guard
The Bering Sea is a marginal sea of the Northern Pacific Ocean, while the Chukchi Sea is part of the Arctic Ocean. The two oceans are connected by the Bering Strait, a strategic waterway between the Far East of mainland Russia to the west and Alaska to the east.
China has declared itself a “near-Arctic state,” even though its territory in East Asia is 900 miles from the Arctic Circle. In August, Beijing had three icebreakers operating in the Arctic Ocean simultaneously for the first time, according to ship-tracking data.
The Chinese coast guard said the latest mission was routine and not targeting any specific country, region or objective. It also claimed that the mission complied with international law and practices and was unrelated to the current international and regional situations.
Chinese coast guard
The joint China-Russia mission, codenamed “Pacific Patrol-2024,” began on September 16 when ships from the Chinese coast guard and the Border Service of the Russian Federal Security Service conducted joint exercises in Peter the Great Gulf in the Russian Far East.
Following the end of the five-day exercises, the two sides joined for the first time to patrol the international waters in the Northern Pacific Ocean, the Chinese coast guard said. The joint patrol aimed at maintaining order in fisheries production in the region, it added.
The Chinese coast guard, which has the world’s largest maritime law enforcement fleet, sent the 3,800-ton Type 818 coast guard vessels for the mission. This type of ship is armed with a 76 mm naval gun and has a design based on the Chinese navy Type 054 frigate.
