CNN: US Defense official: Chinese warship stole US underwater drone
(CNN)A US oceanographic vessel Thursday had its underwater drone stolen by a Chinese warship literally right in front of the eyes of the American crew, a US defense official told CNN Friday.
In the latest encounter in international waters in the South China Sea region, the USNS Bowditch was sailing about 100 miles off the port at Subic Bay when the incident occurred, according to the official.
Bowditch had stopped in the water to pick up two underwater drones. At that point a Chinese naval ship that had been shadowing the Bowditch put a small boat into the water. That small boat came up alongside and the Chinese crew took one of the drones.
Read more ....
WNU Editor: The Chinese are going to take their time to return the drone .... that is if they return it. I am sure that there is U.S. Navy video of this incident .... and it must be quite a thing to see .... especially how the U.S. sailors must have reacted when the Chinese then made a beeline with the drone.
More News On A Chinese Warship Taking A US Underwater Drone
US says Chinese warship seized Navy underwater drone -- AP
China's Navy seizes American underwater drone in South China Sea -- Reuters
Pentagon: Chinese naval ship seized an unmanned U.S. ocean glider in South China Sea -- Washington Post
China Grabs Underwater Drone Operated by US Navy in South China Sea -- Defense News
China seizes US naval underwater probe in S. China Sea: defense official -- AFP
China 'seizes US vessel' in S China Sea -- BBC
Chinese warship seizes US underwater drone in international waters -- The Guardian
US Underwater Drone Seized by Chinese Navy in South China Sea -- ABC News
China seizes US submarine drone in South China Sea, prompting a formal complaint -- Los Angeles Times
China steals US underwater drone in South China Sea -- FOX News
China seizes unmanned US Navy underwater vehicle -- The Hill
Defense official: Chinese ship captures U.S. underwater drone from sea -- USA Today
China seizes US Navy underwater drone in international waters of South China Sea -- The Independent
China seizes US underwater drone in South China sea's international waters -- RT
China Seized a U.S. Navy Underwater Drone in the South China Sea -- Popular Mechanics
6 comments:
Unmanned, untethered robotic vessels arn't covered under the International Laws of the Sea.
Under the law, they can be considered to be:
-abandoned
- salvage
- a hazard to navigation
If a robot is operating within specs and knows to avoid shipping etc, it would not be a hazard to navigation.
It is underway, making way or carrying out instructions, it is not abandoned.
i would like to see someone take the untethered, unmanned robot of an outfit like the lat Jacques Costeau costing hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Finders keepers?
The law's pretty clear, shipping has people on it.
It's a legal loophole some have learned to exploit.
The popularity of small ROV's for underwater photography, has lead to an "outbreak" of "reef fishermen" who demand compensation and a reward, ( a few hundred bucks) from the "tourist".
The proliferation of Sea-Tow operators and the cutting of Coast Guard resources, lead to boats doing stupid things, like running out of fuel, having to call Sea-Tow's, not Coast Guard. Instead of a $250 invoice for the $50 worth of fuel, some Sea-Tow operators handed over a "Salvage Contract" instead. A month later, the bill arrives, 1/2 the value of your boat.
They know they will win in Court, ( full value plus costs), register a lien against your vessel, and count on you "settling" for say 1/4 the value of your boat, plus a NDA where you can't "bad mouth them", ever.
Vessel Assist, don't leave port without it, saved my operation $3000 this year!
The sportfishing fleet out of San Diego used to run across Naval drones every once in a while, but these where airborne vehicles, I'm guessing they try to shoot them out of the sky. The navy was always very interested in recovering these big orange UFO's floating around in the middle of nowhere and would sometimes even charter fishing boats to go recover them.
Also reminds me, last year while fishing 5 miles west of Mission bay (San Diego) we spotted (to our disbelief) a small drone moving along the surface. At first we thought it was a small Tern bird sitting on a piece of kelp but the closer we got we realized it was under it's own propulsion. We put a radio call out to other fishermen in the area and it was spotted by other people as well, someone claimed it was a NOAA drone collecting data...we were considering throwing it in the boat and taking it for a spin in the boat for a while and releasing it inside the bay near the launch ramp, slow days of fishing bring about obnoxious thoughts.
I will admit in over 30 years on the water I have seen some pretty cool stuff...getting buzzed by an F-14 and having them roll and bank up right on top of us was one of my favorites!
Is there some way to spin this to blame Putin's Russian Hackers?
Post a Comment