The Solomon Islands has suspended entry of foreign navy ships into its waters until a new process for approving of port visits is set up, the prime minister’s office said on Tuesday.
The news followed an incident last week when a US Coast Guard vessel, the Oliver Henry, was unable to make a routine port call because the government did not respond to a request for it to refuel and provision.
“We have requested our partners to give us time to review, and put in place our new processes, before sending further requests for military vessels to enter the country,” Prime Minister Manesseh Sogavare said in a statement.
“These will universally apply to all visiting naval vessels,” he said in a statement.
Sogavare added that he wanted to build national capacity to police the Pacific island nation’s exclusive economic zones.
Solomon Islands have had “unfortunate experiences of foreign naval vessels entering the country’s waters during the course of the year without diplomatic clearance granted”, the statement said, without naming the countries.
The suspension of naval ship visits will be lifted when a new process is in place.
In a speech on Tuesday afternoon to welcome the visiting US hospital ship Mercy, Sogavare said the delay over the Oliver Henry was because the information had not been sent to his office on time.
Approval Procedures
He also confirmed delays in approving entry for the British navy ship Spey, which aborted its planned port call.
Earlier, the United States embassy in Canberra, the Australian capital, said the Solomon Islands had notified it of a moratorium on navy vessels entering its ports.
“On August 29, the United States received formal notification from the government of Solomon Islands regarding a moratorium on all naval visits, pending updates in protocol procedures,” the embassy said in a statement.
The Mercy had arrived before the moratorium, the embassy said, adding that it was monitoring the situation.
The Solomon Islands has had a tense relationship with the United States and its allies since striking a security pact with China this year.
Beijing and Honiara have said there will be no Chinese military base, although a leaked draft refers to Chinese naval ships replenishing in the strategically located archipelago.
There have also been reports that a Chinese state-owned company is “negotiating to buy a deepwater port and a World War Two airstrip” in the Solomon Islands.
Illegal Fishing Patrol
The Oliver Henry and HMS Spey were on patrol for illegal fishing in the South Pacific for a regional fisheries agency at the time they sought entry to refuel at Honiara, the Solomons’ capital.
The United States announced plans in July to battle illegal fishing in the Pacific, as part of increased US engagement with the region to counter China’s growing influence.
On Monday, a US State Department spokesperson called the lack of clearance for the Oliver Henry “regrettable”, saying the United States was pleased the Mercy had received clearance.
Separately, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said it was regrettable that “we’ve seen the Chinese try to bully and coerce nations throughout the Indo-Pacific to do their bidding and to serve what they believe their selfish national security interests are, rather than the broader interests of a free and open Indo-Pacific”.
- Reuters with additional editing by Jim Pollard
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