On 6 and 7 July, the United States Coast Guard encountered three Chinese military ships in the Bering Sea near the U.S. state of Alaska in the U.S.'s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
The U.S. Coast Guard Kimball vessel reported detecting three Chinese vessels about 124 miles north of Amchitka Pass in the Aleutian Islands, and an HC-130J aircrew from Kodiak Air Station detected another vessel about 84 miles north of Amukta Pass. All four of the Chinese vessels were transiting in international waters but still inside the U.S. EEZ, which extends 200 nautical miles from the U.S. coast.
The Chinese vessels responded to the U.S. Coast Guard radio communication, and their stated purpose was “freedom of navigation operations.” The Kimball continued to monitor all ships until they transitioned south of the Aleutian Islands into the North Pacific and will continue monitoring activities in the U.S. EEZ around Alaska, according to a Coast Guard press release.
“The Chinese naval presence operated in accordance with international rules and norms,” U.S. Rear Admiral and 17th Coast Guard District Commander Megan Dean said. “We met presence with presence to ensure there were no disruptions to the U.S. interests in the maritime environment around Alaska.”
With the salmon season in Alaska’s Cook Inlet fishery opening 20 June and other fisheries currently active, there was heightened marine traffic in the area. Several U.S.-flagged catcher-processing vessels reported detailed observations of the Chinese ships to the Juneau Empire but declined to be identified, citing the event’s political sensitivity.
United Catcher Boats Executive Director Brent Paine said there was a “pucker factor” for fishing crews that run into foreign military vessels. Paine said it felt similar to a 2020 incident when a group of Russian military vessels, including a submarine and dozens of warships and planes, conducted large-scale drills in the Bering Sea, resulting in U.S.-flagged fishing fleets being driven off fishing grounds. Additionally, in 2023, 11 Russian and Chinese vessels conducted a joint patrol near the Aleutians. More Russian tankers are also using the Bering Strait to transport oil to China.
“People are nervous,” Paine said. “We just want to know that the U.S. government is very well aware that these ships are there – and it would be nice to know, if they know, why they’re there.”
Former Alaska Lieutenant Governor Mead Treadwell said China and Russia are probing U.S. military infrastructure as a result of rising tensions due to the Ukraine war and China’s increasingly aggressive stance toward Taiwan.
“The tilt to the Pacific is real – and the tilt to the Pacific that affects Alaskans is real,” Treadwell said “You can say it’s [tense], or you can say it’s a fact of life.”
U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) said the interactions reveal the increasing importance of the Arctic “for resources, for fisheries, and for transportation routes for energy.”
“The Arctic is really strategic territory,” he said. “And, we need the same assets and responses that you’d get if this were off Boston or New York City.”
Sullivan said he wants the U.S. military to quickly inform the public and respond with an appropriate military presence when foreign vessels are spotted in Alaska waters.
Vince Tutiakoff Sr., the mayor of the Aleutian fishing hub of Unalaska, Alaska, agreed with that approach.
“There’s great concern from this community,” he said. “We’re going to see more and more of this unless there is a presence. When are they going to get active military, Navy, out here in Unalaska and west to make sure that our fishing fleet is safe?”
