After hosting Ranil, China sends another spy ship to dock in Sri Lanka

By Manish Anand

New Delhi, October 25: Chinese President Xi Jinping recently hosted his Sri Lankan counterpart Ranil Vickremesinghe with visible charm offensives, holding delegation level talk close on the heel of restructuring the debt of the island nation, which had been delayed for months. Now, it has been stated by the Sri Lankan authorities that the Chinese ship – Shi Yan 6 – would dock at one of its ports, most likely at the Hambantota Port.

The AFP has quoted an unnamed Sri Lankan foreign ministry official confirming that “Shi Yan 6 had been authorized to dock in Colombo, where a Chinese state-owned company operates a deep-sea container terminal”. The official was quoted by the news agency saying that the vessel is coming to the capital for “replenishment”.

Last year, the Chinese spy ship Yuan Wang 5 had docked at the Hambantota Port, which had created a furore in India. The strategic experts argue that the ships of China are described as research vessels while they are essentially spy on India while being docked in Sri Lanka. Incidentally, Yuan Wang 5 was described to have capacity to keep a close watch on several strategic installations of India.    

China claims that Shi Yan 6 is a scientific research vessel. It has a crew of 60. The stated objective of the ship is to conduct oceanography, geology, and marine ecology tests. MarineTraffic, an international ship tracking website, has stated that the Chinese ship is likely to dock in Sri Lanka soon. “Chinese research vessel Shi Yan 6 starts Indian Ocean expedition. The Shi Yan 6, China’s primary geophysical research vessel, has begun an 80-day Indian Ocean mission spanning 12,000+ nautical miles, coming close to its previous year’s total of 14866 NM, as per MarineTraffic data,” said the traffic portal in a post on X.

It also stated that the “data shows that the 90.6 metre-long vessel departed from Guangzhou Port on 10 September. On the trip, organised by the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology (SCSIO), 13 research teams will carry out 28 scientific research projects at sea”.

However, the ship appears to be coming at a time when China has made swift moves to gain foothold in Sri Lanka by restructuring the debt, while also seeking ownerships of ports and power plants for converting debt into equity. Vickremesinghe was in Beijing recently where China is learnt to have sought his support for the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).  

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About The Author

Manish Anand

Manish Anand is a senior journalist with more than two decades of hardcore reporting on beats such as Prime Minister’s Office, Parliament, BJP, Congress, Planning Commission, NITI Aayog, and scores of Union Ministries.

His past has been with The New Indian Express, The Asian Age/Deccan Chronicle, and The Statesman.

For about 15 years, Manish was also a regular commentator and host for talks on AIR on foreign affairs.

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