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South China Sea
OpinionComment
Mark J. Valencia
Mark J. Valencia

Opinion | Irresponsible US submarine exercises threaten South China Sea health and safety

  • The USS Connecticut incident is the latest in a number of accidents involving nuclear-powered subs
  • An incident that releases radiation could destroy fisheries which provide essential food stocks, something Asean and other regional states should consider

Reading Time:4 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
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Illustration: Craig Stephens
Mark J. Valencia

“US demands details of Chinese nuclear sub accident off California” screamed the headline. No, that has not happened – not yet. But just imagine the US reaction if it did.

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The public would immediately want to know if there was any radiation leakage from the reactor or its nuclear weapons, if it was carrying them. What caused the accident? Where did it happen? What was it doing there in the first place?

On October 7, the US Navy announced that its fast attack nuclear submarine USS Connecticut had hit an unidentified object in the South China Sea five days earlier. According to the announcement, the submarine “remained in a safe and stable condition” and its “nuclear propulsion plant and spaces were not affected and remain fully operational”.

The vessel eventually returned to Guam under its own power. The USS Connecticut is one of only three Seawolf-class submarines designed to hunt the best Soviet submarines near the end of the Cold War. They can operate in shallow water and could carry nuclear weapons.

The US Navy announcement was vague. It did not say what the submarine hit or where, only that it was “operating in international waters in the Indo-Pacific region”. It was belatedly reported that anonymous sources said it was in the South China Sea.

This episode was not the epitome of transparency in defence matters that the United States often demands of China. The delay and the vagueness of the announcement raise many questions.

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