ABOARD HMCS MONTRÉAL, SAILING IN THE SPRATLY ISLANDS — The Eurythmics blasted through the lone freewheeling speaker on the flight deck as the 10,000-ton China Coast Guard ship sailed past the Royal Canadian Navy frigate.
Sweet dreams are made of this.
Who am I to disagree?
I travel the world and the seven seas.
Everybody’s looking for something.
The aviation detachment paused to take in the view of the “monster” – a nickname for the Chinese cutter with a hull number of 5901. The world’s largest Coast Guard vessel was steaming in the eastern part of the Spratly Islands, near Mischief Reef, a built up atoll that features an 8,900-foot runway and an airfield. The airmen had just watched the cutter come over the horizon off Montréal’s starboard side, passing the People’s Liberation Army Navy Type 053H3 frigate CNS Luoyang (527) that had been shadowing the Canadians the entire day.
The crew kill the music for a few moments to watch the ship sail past. The speakers switch on again and blare Alanis Morissette as the air crew resumes wrenching on the CH-148 Cyclone helicopter.
On the bridge, Lt. Hank Kieser was the officer of the watch as 5901 appeared. Montréal was sailing north in the South China Sea, more than halfway through a 26-hour loop in the Spratlys. After 5901 passed 2.4 miles astern of the Canadian frigate, Montréal was 50 nautical miles west of Mischief Reef, continuing a standard transit through the world’s most contested waters.
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China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy routinely shadows western military vessels. The Canadian frigate was no exception. During the two days it took the frigate to perform the Spratly transit, Luoyang kept a watchful eye on Montréal.
“We’ve noticed that the Chinese vessels – all their navy and coast guard – we try to stay two miles away from them, they try to stay two miles away from us, generally, with a few exceptions,” Kieser said.
The sailors aboard Montréal knew they were getting shadowed and were told not to bring their personal cell phones to the upper decks. They refer to the Chinese as their “friends” or “friendly escort.” Boatswains and aviation technicians having a cigarette in the smoking pit on the port side of Montréal look on as the Chinese warship sails a few miles away, sometimes leading, other times following the Canadian frigate. There’s no land as far as the eye can see, but the PLAN warship is always in view.
But throughout the sail, several sailors point out that if the Chinese were operating near Canadian shores, the RCN would shadow them, too.
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Interactions between the Canadian and Chinese sailors are strictly business. Seeking to adhere to the so-called rules of the road at sea, an officer of the watch might pick up the radio to let the Chinese know if they need to turn port or starboard to avoid a fishing vessel or buoy.
“They usually just say, ‘copy your message, out,’” Kieser said of those exchanges.
“Sometimes we’ll have days when we’re on the horn with them three or four or five times, but on a day like today, where there’s not a whole lot going on, we’re just hanging out, just going through international waters, it would be – I would say – uncommon,” Kieser said.
Montréal’s commander Bain echoed the sentiment.
“All of our transits in the area have been safe and professional,” Bain added after the sail through the Spratlys. “I haven’t seen any unprofessional actions.”
But that’s not always the case. In June 2023, Montréal was sailing through the Taiwan Strait with USS Chung-Hoon (DDG-93) when a PLAN Type 052D destroyer cut across the bow of Chung-Hoon, coming within 150 yards of the U.S. destroyer. U.S. Indo-Pacific Command at the time said China’s actions defied the rules of the road at sea. Montréal sailed through the Taiwan Strait on July 31 and Chinese forces said they monitored the transit.
On the bridge Tuesday afternoon, McCullough was coming off watch in a few minutes. After 23 hours retracing most of its path, Montréal finished the transit through the Spratlys sometime between five and six a.m. and slowly sailed west toward Vietnam.
McCullough recalled a particular evening at dusk, when the PLAN warship’s silhouette was visible on the horizon.
“It’s a shame that we can’t contact each other, because we both get very nice pictures of each other’s ship,” McCullough said.
