A 4,500-tonne high-tech Chinese 'spy' ship is back in the Maldivian waters, two months after it spent a week docked at different ports in this archipelago nation.
Although it’s a research vessel, experts fear that data related to seabeds and oceans could be useful to China in planning future conflicts and for executing submarine warfare operations in the Indian Ocean
India-Maldives row: These vessels are not military ships officially. However, it will spark concerns for India and others about the military use of their research.
The Maldives government has confirmed that a Chinese "research vessel", the Xian Yang Hong 03 - widely seen as a spy ship mapping the Indian Ocean floor for military purposes - will dock at capital Male early next month.