The U.S. Coast Guard spotted a Russian naval vessel off Alaska's Aleutian Islands and followed until it left waters within America's "exclusive economic zone."
The incident involving the American Coast Guard cutter Alex Haley took place about 30 miles southeast of the Amutka Pass between Seguam and Amutka Islands, the Coast Guard said Friday.
"As a proud Alaska-homeported cutter, we patrol to uphold maritime governance and a rules-based international order," Cmdr. Steven Baldovsky, commanding officer of the Alex Haley, said in a statement.
"We met presence with presence to ensure there were no disruptions to U.S. interests in the maritime environment around Alaska."
The Alex Haley's crew didn't communicate with the Russian ship, but followed as it traveled east out of the exclusive economic zone that extends 200 miles from the U.S. shoreline on Monday, the Coast Guard said.
A Coast Guard HC-130 intelligence aircraft crew also reportedly observed the Russian ship, which was identified as a Vishnya-class vessel.
The ships were built for the Soviet navy in the 1980s to gather intelligence and are outfitted with extensive arrays of electronic sensors and antennas for transmitting data via satellites, according to the U.S. Army.
Russia reportedly maintains a fleet of seven Vishnya-class vessels, which are armed with two automatic, 30 mm rotary cannons and SA-N-8 surface-to-air missile launchers.
The Coast Guard said Monday's incident, first reported by the Associated Press, unfolded as part of Operation Frontier Sentinel, a program to monitor and address "strategic competitors" that travel in and around U.S. waters.
It also said the activity wasn't unusual, citing two incidents in July when Coast Guard crews encountered a total of four Chinese military ships in the Bering Sea, within the 200-mile zone north of the Aleutian Islands.
