Colombo: Officials in Sri Lanka’s Hambanthota Harbor have said that the hi-tech Chinese research vessel (Yuan Wang 5 ship) did not reach the port as scheduled. The ship was to be anchored on Thursday. Earlier, India had expressed concern over the possible presence of the ship in Sri Lanka.
According to the report of the website ‘newsfirst.lk’, the ‘Harbour Master’ of Hambantota Port has said that no ship can enter the port without his permission. The harbor master said the Chinese ballistic missile and satellite surveillance vessel Yuan Wang 5 will not reach Hambantota port on Thursday.
The Chinese ship was about to drop anchor on August 11
Last week, due to security concerns expressed by India, Sri Lanka’s foreign ministry asked Beijing to postpone the arrival of Yuan Wang 5, which was to anchor at Hambantota port from August 11 to 17.
However, no announcement was made that the vessel would not be allowed to enter the Hambantota port. ‘Yuan Wang 5’ departed China on July 14 and has not entered any port on its way so far. The ship has been on the voyage for about 28 days.
‘Yuan Wang 5’ entered the Indian Ocean
On July 12, the Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry had approved the ship to be anchored at Hambantota port. On 8 August, the ministry in a letter to the Chinese embassy in Colombo requested the suspension of the ship’s scheduled stay. However, the ministry did not specify the reason for such request. ‘Yuan Wang 5’ had not yet entered the Indian Ocean.
The port of Hambantota is considered strategically important. The port has been largely developed with the help of Chinese loans. As of Thursday evening, Yuan Wang 5 was about 600 nautical miles from the southern port of Hambantota in Sri Lankan waters, NewsFirst.LK reported. The ship will now go east of Sri Lanka via the Bay of Bengal.
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tags: china, Sri Lanka, world news in hindi
First Published: 11 August 2022, 23:18 IST
