The US Coast Guard has deployed the national security cutter Munro to monitor the China-flagged research vessels Xuelong and Xuelong 2 during their northbound passage through the Bering Sea, marking its first tracking operation involving Chinese ships in the US exclusive economic zone and over the US extended continental shelf in 2026, according to the US Coast Guard.
An official photograph showed Xuelong in the Bering Sea on 12 July with the Arctic declared as its destination. Xuelong 2 was also sailing towards the region. The 418-foot USCGC Munro, hull number WMSL 755, is following the vessels under Operation Frontier Sentinel.
The ships’ precise positions were not disclosed, and there was no indication that either vessel had conducted research in waters under US jurisdiction.
Foreign ships may navigate within the US exclusive economic zone and over the extended continental shelf under international law. Marine scientific research in either area requires advance US approval and the subsequent sharing of information collected.
The deployment follows a July 2025 operation in which a US Coast Guard C-130J Hercules aircraft monitored Xuelong 2 about 290 nautical miles north of Utqiagvik, Alaska. The vessel was then around 130 nautical miles inside the boundary of the extended continental shelf claimed by the US.
Xuelong and Xuelong 2 departed Dalian, China, on 3 July with the Chinese research icebreaker Jidi for China’s 16th Arctic Ocean scientific expedition. The research vessel Tansuo-3 is scheduled to join the mission.
The expedition is due to continue until early October and covers sea ice, hydrology, biology, ecology, atmospheric conditions and research into the Gakkel Ridge and the evolution of the Arctic Ocean’s crust.
Scientists from China, Russia, Germany and other countries are expected to participate.
The Polar Research Institute of China is a public institution under China’s Ministry of Natural Resources responsible for national polar research programmes and expeditions. It operates the 167-metre Xuelong and the 122.5-metre Xuelong 2.