John Cummins, M.P. Delta-South Richmond

News Release

December 2, 2002

Coast Guard Loses Track of Surveillance Ship
Minister Says Ask the Russians

OTTAWA- If you want to know what a Russian spy ship is doing in Canadian waters ask the Russians, Robert Thibault, the Minister responsible for the Coast Guard, told Delta-South Richmond M.P. John Cummins in the Commons today.

Cummins was asking about the Kapitan Man, a Russian spy ship, which reported to Canadian authorities when it anchored off Massett in the Queen Charlotte Islands two days ago. Small vessels were seen approaching and tying along side the Kapitan Man.

Prior to its arrival in the Queen Charlottes the Kapitan Man had been tracked by the US Coast Guard in Seattle and the Canadian Coast Guard in Victoria and Tofino.

The Canadian Navy was advised of the location of the Kapitan Man and the activity around it. The Navy then asked the Coast Guard in Prince Rupert if they were able to provide any information about the matter.

The Coast Guard was unable to do so as there is no radar coverage in the area and presumably they were unable to send either surface vessels or aircraft to investigate.

The Kapitan Man is given whatever special attention authorities are able to provide when it enters Canadian waters. In 1993 a US inspection found anti-submarine warfare equipment on the ship. On another occasion sonobuoys were discovered by US authorities.

In 1997 a US naval officer and the pilot of a Canadian Forces helicopter suffered permanent eye damage when the Kapitan Man fired a laser at their helicopter. At the time the Kapitan Man was tracking a US strategic ballistic missile submarine exiting the Strait of Juan de Fuga.

"If the Coast Guard and the Canadian Navy lack the equipment to maintain surveillance of a ship of interest such as the Kapitan Man, how can they possibly monitor the passage of the dozens of seemingly ordinary vessels transiting Canadian waters on any given day," Cummins asked.

Contact: John Cummins, M.P.
(613) 992-2957 or cell (604) 970-0937


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