A maritime incident in international waters occurred in recent days off the coast of Japan, with Australian Navy divers suffering minor injuries after being exposed to sonar pulses from a Chinese warship.

According to what Australia announced, divers of the country’s navy suffered minor injuries and were forced to abandon their mission in a hurry, after the action of a Chinese warship, despite the information signals from the Australian frigate.

In particular, divers from HMAS Toowoomba were operating on the reefs of the frigate trying to detach nets that had become entangled in the propellers when the Chinese pursuit ship approached them.

The crew of the Australian frigate had already informed the vessels sailing by about the execution of the work and sent additional information messages to the Chinese vessel which instead of responding, activated its powerful underwater sonar resulting in the creation of strong echo waves which were directed to the Australian divers with the aforementioned consequences.

According to Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles, the Chinese ship despite receiving the informational warnings chose to activate the sonar:
-“This endangered the safety of the divers who were forced to exit the water urgently”, pointed out the minister.

The Australian frigate, when the incident happened, was in international waters, off Japan, as part of a UN mission.

The Australian government officially expressed its concern, while keeping a low profile.

The incident is also the first test in Australia’s turbulent relations with China for the government of Anthony Albanisi after the recent summit visit to China, as part of his government’s efforts to improve the disturbed relations between the two states in recent years.