The Australian government said on Saturday it had expressed serious concern to China after an “unsafe and unprofessional” interaction between the Chinese destroyer HMS Ningbo (DDG-139) and an Australian warship resulted in the injury of an Australian Navy diver. .
According to foreign reports on the 18th, Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles said that when the incident occurred on the 14th, divers from the long-range frigate “HMAS Toowoomba” were clearing fishing nets from the propellers in Japan’s exclusive economic waters. However, while the diving mission was in progress, the Chinese destroyer nearby approached the “Touba”.
He said that although the Australian warship informed the “Ningbo” ship that it was engaged in a diving mission and asked the other party to keep its distance, it continued to approach. Then it operated the ship’s sonar and emitted sonar pulses, posing a threat to the safety of Australian divers and forcing them to board the ship.
In addition, Malus pointed out that after medical evaluation, it was found that the divers were likely to have suffered minor injuries due to sonar pulses emitted by the Chinese destroyer. The Diving Medical Advisory Committee, an independent body based in London, warned that sonar sound waves could cause dizziness, hearing and organ damage to divers.
Australia emphasized that the “Touba” was in the relevant waters in order to support the United Nations’ sanctions against North Korea, and communicated through normal channels at any time, and also used internationally accepted signals.
Article source: Australian naval divers injured after sonar pulses detected from Chinese warship
Article source: HMAS Toowoomba naval divers forced to exit water over Chinese warship sonar pulses
Article source: Australia accuses Chinese warship of injuring navy divers with sonar pulses in Japanese waters
Tags: Shadow Chinese destroyer approaches Australian Navy diver injured Canberra angry Military
