Canada’s navy encountered a Chinese “monster ship,” which is the largest coast guard vessel in the world, during a patrol near China’s artificial islands in the South China Sea.
The United States Naval Institute’s USNI News revealed the encounter in the contested waters on Monday. HMCS Montreal, a 4,770-ton Canadian frigate armed with missiles, “deliberately” sailed by Subi Reef, Fiery Cross Reef, and Mischief Reef of the Spratly Islands during a recent transit.
These China-controlled reefs were built with multiple facilities over the years, which turned them into military outposts at sea. Human-made structures included sensor/communications facilities, point defense facilities, runways, hangar space for combat aircraft, and underground/buried storage.
A China coast guard vessel with a hull number of 5901, also known as the “monster” to media and observers for its displacement of 12,000 tons, approached the Montreal near Mischief Reef. The Canadian commanding officer said interactions between the two sides were safe and professional.
The “monster ship” was named after Nansha, the Chinese name of the Spratly Islands. China views the vessel as an important tool to safeguard maritime rights and interests in the contested East and South China Seas, where Beijing has disputes with neighboring countries such as Japan and the Philippines.
The 541-foot-long Nansha has a maximum speed of over 28 miles per hour and is armed with rapid fire guns, auxiliary guns, and anti-aircraft machine guns. Observers said this ship has advantages in endurance, collision resistance, seaworthiness, and speed compared to other coast guard ships.
The U.S. National Security Cutter, the main patrol vessel for the country’s coast guard, looks small in comparison with the Nansha. It has a displacement of 4,700 tons only with a length of 418 feet. Armaments included automated weapons systems for stopping rogue vessels far from shore.
China has used the so-called “nine-dash line” to support its maritime claims in the South China Sea, which were dismissed by a Hague, Netherlands-based arbitral panel’s ruling in 2016. The Nansha was built to meet the need for high-intensity operations in the country’s vast maritime territory.
The Philippine coast guard has encountered the Chinese “monster ship” in the South China Sea on several occasions. In late June, Manila’s coast guard said that it was able to track the movement of the Nansha for 10 days with dark vessel detection technology shared by Canada.
The Chinese coast guard has no publicly available contact information. The foreign and defense ministries in Beijing did not immediately respond to Newsweek‘s requests for comment by email.
The Montreal has been operating in waters near China this summer. On June 16 to 17, it participated in a maritime cooperative activity with naval forces from the U.S., Japan, and the Philippines in the South China Sea. It conducted bilateral operations with the U.S. Navy in the region the following three days.
The Canadian warship then shifted its area of operations northward to the East China Sea, where it conducted another bilateral operation with USS Ralph Johnson, an American destroyer, on July 30. The Montreal returned to the South China Sea following a Taiwan Strait transit on July 31.
On August 7 to 8, another U.S.-led maritime cooperative activity was held in the South China Sea. The Montreal was among the participating naval and air units that also included Australia and the Philippines. It visited Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam on August 15 and departed on Monday.
Please join us in welcoming HMCS Montréal to Ho Chi Minh City! The ship will dock Ho Chi Minh City’s Nha Rong Port from August 15 -19 with daily events scheduled to support community engagement with the wonderful people of HCMC and Vietnam. Stay tuned for more updates! pic.twitter.com/t5WnhQeFFA
— Canada In Vietnam (@CanEmbVietnam) August 16, 2024
The Montreal is currently deployed for Operation Horizon. This is a forward-presence mission aimed at demonstrating Ottawa’s commitment to a free, open, and inclusive Indo-Pacific by promoting peace, stability, and the rules-based international order, according to Canada’s defense department.
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