China returns UUV

By Justin Doubleday / December 20, 2016 at 10:24 AM

The Chinese military returned a small unmanned underwater vehicle it had seized from a U.S. Navy ship, the Pentagon announced.

On Dec. 19, the People's Liberation Army-Navy returned an ocean glider UUV to the United States near where it had been “unlawfully seized” on Dec. 15, Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said in statement. The guided missile destroyer Mustin (DDG-89) received the UUV about 50 nautical miles northwest of Subic Bay, according to Cook.

The glider is an ocean-mapping vessel and was returning to the survey ship Bowditch (T-AGS-62) after conducting a routine, pre-programmed military oceanographic survey route in international waters in the South China Sea on Dec. 15 when it was seized by the Chinese navy, according to Cook.

“This incident was inconsistent with both international law and standards of professionalism for conduct between navies at sea,” Cook said. “The U.S. has addressed those facts with the Chinese through the appropriate diplomatic and military channels, and have called on Chinese authorities to comply with their obligations under international law and to refrain from further efforts to impede lawful U.S. activities. The U.S. will continue to investigate the events surrounding this incident and address any additional findings with the Chinese, as part of our ongoing diplomatic dialogues and the Military Maritime Consultative Agreement Mechanism.”

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