Australia monitoring Chinese research vessel off south coast
By defence correspondent Andrew Greene and foreign affairs reporter Stephen Dziedzic
Topic:Federal Government
22m ago22 minutes agoMon 31 Mar 2025 at 2:42am
A map showing the locations of boats in Australia's water.
Maritime tracking websites have recorded the Tan Suo Yi Hao passing the Victorian coastline in recent days. (Supplied: Marine Traffic)
In short:
The prime minister says the Australian Defence Force is monitoring a Chinese research ship as it travels through Australian waters.
Questioned about the government's response on the campaign trial, Anthony Albanese said he'd "prefer" if the vessel wasn't there.
What's next?
Mr Albanese said the government would continue to track its movements.
Agencies are monitoring a high-tech Chinese research ship which operates a deep sea submersible vessel, as it makes its way through southern Australian waters.
Maritime tracking websites have recorded the Tan Suo Yi Hao passing the Victorian coastline in recent days, after it completed joint surveys with New Zealand.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters in Perth that he'd "prefer" the ship wasn't in Australian waters, but suggested China hadn't broken international law.
"I would prefer that it wasn't there. But we live in circumstances where, just as Australia has vessels in the South China Sea and vessels in the Taiwan Strait and a range of areas, this vessel is there," he said.
"What our task is to do is to make sure that we represent Australia's national interests… and I have every confidence, every confidence, in our Defence Force and our security agencies to do just that."
Anthony Albanese holds up a Medicare card as he speaks animatedly.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he would prefer the ship was not there, as he addressed reporters on the campaign trail. (ABC News: Ian Cutmore)
A spokesperson for Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke told the ABC that the research vessel's activities weren't unprecedented.
"We have seen similar vessels before, including in 2020," they said.
"As Australians would expect, our agencies are aware of this vessel and are monitoring its movements."
It comes weeks after China's navy conducted an unprecedented circumnavigation of much of Australia, as well as hosting live fire exercises in the Tasman Sea.
The prime minister suggested the research vessel might similarly trace a course underneath Australia's southern coastline and up along the western coast before returning to China.
"We continue to monitor it. We won't … broadcast everything that we're doing but we're keeping an eye on this," he said.
"It's going from New Zealand, we expect it to go around to China around that way."
While it's not clear exactly what research the ship is conducting, analysts have told the ABC that its submersible vessels could be mapping the undersea environment south of Australia — including a major submarine cable connecting Sydney and Perth.
New Zealand media have reported that the Tan Suo Yi Hao submersibles took Chinese and New Zealand scientists to the bottom of the Puysegur Trench, six kilometres below sea level, for a joint research mission.
Posted22m ago22 minutes agoMon 31 Mar 2025 at 2:42am
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