Canada military news: Warship near China


CTV National News is aboard HMCS Ottawa, staffed by Canadian Navy personnel and currently documenting their work in the East China Sea, a region where China is increasingly flexing its maritime muscle. This is the first in a series of dispatches from the ship.

Shortly after HMCS Ottawa transitioned from shore to sea, the Canadian crew on board quickly realized that their ship was being closely watched.

Less than 12 hours after leaving southern Japan, a Chinese warship appeared on radar. Then, he emerged with the sun on the horizon. The large ship then approached the Canadian warship.

We soon learned that the ship tracking the Canadian Navy’s every move is called Binzhou, a guided missile warship of the Chinese Navy.

HMCS Ottawa had just disembarked from its port in the southern city of Sasebo, Japan, toward the open waters of the East China Sea on the Royal Canadian Navy’s first international deployment in 2025.

Armed naval officers surveyed the open waters. Commander Adriano Lozer expected the company of a Chinese warship during this deployment.

“That (Chinese) ship basically asked us a question: who are you? Where are you going? We let them know who we are and that we are operating in international waters in accordance with international law,” Commander Lozer said.

In this deployment, HMCS Ottawa will join allied naval ships while at sea and then work together on the operation.

CTV National News watched from near the bridge, as the Chinese warship moved from port to starboard (left to right) as it followed HMCS Ottawa.

“That (Chinese Navy) ship, because we are in these regional waters, has decided to stay around us and is currently seven miles off our beam and has been coming and going between two and seven miles all day. “Lozer noted.

During its first days at sea, HMCS Ottawa flies the United Nations flag, as it participates in Operation NEON, enforcing UN sanctions against North Korea.

Although the crew of approximately 250 aboard HMCS Ottawa will soon transition to Operation Horizon, a multinational effort to promote peace and rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific. A region that has become increasingly volatile as China attempts to rewrite maritime borders and international laws that promote free passage in the open sea.

Commander Lozer notes that “one of the most important things Canadians should focus on is that we have free and unrestricted use of the world’s oceans in accordance with international law because it is something that sustains our peace, security and prosperity. We are (as Canadians) a maritime nation. “We have the largest coastline in the world.”

In this deployment, HMCS Ottawa will join allied naval ships while at sea and then work together on the operation.



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