Amid India-Pakistan tensions, China's 'spy ship' approaches India's neighbourhood

Amid India-Pakistan tensions following the Pahalgam attack, a Chinese ‘spy ship’ is set to enter India’s neighbourhood.

Open-source intelligence expert Damien Symon has shared on X that China’s ship, Da Yang Yi Hao, a so-called research ship, is making its way towards Indian neighbourhood.

The Da Yang Yi Hao is among numerous ships that China labels as research ships, but India and other countries recognise as spy ships. These ships have dual-purpose scientific capabilities with civilian as well as military applications. They can map ocean floors, track missiles, catch readings of submarines, etc. They carry out such activities in the garb of oceanographic scientific expeditions, such as deep-sea exploration and marine resource surveys.

As per the map shared by Symon, the ship is coming from the Malacca Strait and appears to be headed towards south of Sri Lanka.

In recent years, such ships have timed their visits to India’s neighbourhoods at the time of missile tests and other military activities with the unstated purpose of collecting data. These ships have been sighted elsewhere as well.

One major alarming feature of such ships is their unmanned underwater vehicles that conduct surveillance and collect data critical for military operations, such as mapping of the underwater defences, sea mines, or potential military activity, etc. Some of the other Chinese spy ships are Xiang Yang Hong 03, Yang Wang 7, and Bei Diao 996.

Last year, the visit of another spy ship, Xiang Yang Hong 01, in the region coincided with the test of Agni-5 missile, which is considered by independent analysts to be an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). India Today reported that such ships’ “deployment off India’s Eastern seaboard suggests a secondary role in monitoring missile firings at the Balasore test range”.

“Furthermore, they are engaged in detecting the signatures of Indian nuclear ballistic missile-carrying submarines stationed near Visakhapatnam. Under the garb of hydrographic surveys, PLA vessels clandestinely intercept noise signatures emitted by Indian submarines. Simultaneously, they monitor missile test firings conducted at the Integrated Test Range (ITR) on APJ Abdul Kalam Island, subsequently relaying the coordinates to Chinese spy satellites for comprehensive surveillance,” India Today’s Bidisha Saha further noted.

In 2021, another Chinese spy ship, Da Yang Hao, was flagged for unauthorised activities in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of Palau.

Naval News reported at the time that the kind of data that Da Yang Hao was capturing was particularly relevant for submarine warfare. The report further said that the area where the ship was operating, Kyushu-Palau Ridge, would be an important feature in any submarine operations if conflict breaks out in the region.