A US naval supply ship has completed extensive repairs near Vietnam's coveted Cam Ranh Bay - a fresh sign of quiet co-operation between the two former enemies that analysts believe sends a strategic signal to China as it grows more assertive in its claims to the South China Sea.
US 7th Fleet officials have confirmed to the South China Morning Post that the contract to repair the USNS Richard E. Byrd was completed over 16 days last month. They described it as a commercial rather than military engagement but said it was part of an effort to 'further build capacity for emergency and voyage repairs'.
It is the closest in modern times the US navy has been yet to Cam Ranh Bay - the highly strategic deep-water base built up by the Americans during the Vietnam war which fell into Soviet hands at the height of the cold war - and comes ahead of the 15th anniversary of restored ties between Hanoi and Washington.
It is only the second US ship to be repaired in Vietnam.
The 40,000-tonne civilian-manned ship was handled by the state-backed Cam Ranh Shipyard in nearby Van Phong Bay, close to the resort city of Nha Trang. Vietnam's rapidly expanding shipyards are also showing they can cope with a range of military vessels from the US and other nations - all part of a broader policy quietly building a range of strategic friendships in the face of China's naval build-up.
Dr Carl Thayer, a veteran analyst of Vietnam's military and the South China Sea at the Australian Defence Force Academy, said the move was highly significant on several fronts.
