The US Coast Guard says Russian naval vessels have entered the buffer zone off Alaska

Representative image | Photo credit: Reuters

The US Coast Guard said Monday (September 17, 2024) that it tracked a group of Russian Navy ships as they crossed US waters off the coast of Alaska in an apparent attempt to avoid sea ice, a move allowed under international rules and use.

The crew of a U.S. Coast Guard cutter watched the Russian military vessels cross the maritime border and move 30 miles (48 kilometers) into an area extending beyond U.S. territorial waters known as the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone.

The Russian ships consisted of two submarines, a frigate and a tugboat, the Coast Guard said in a news release. The encounter took place nearly 60 miles northwest of Point Hope.

Vice Adm. Megan Dean said the Coast Guard is actively patrolling the maritime boundaries of the Bering Sea, the Bering Strait and the Chukchi Sea to “protect U.S. sovereign interests and U.S. fisheries resources and promote maritime standards.”