Solomon Islands leaves US vessel's request to dock unanswered
A US Coast Guard vessel was unable to enter the Solomon Islands on Thursday for a routine port call as its government did not respond to a request for the vessel to refuel and provision, reports quoted a US official as saying.
It comes amid heightened relations between the Islands and the US since Honiara announced in May that it had signed a security pact with China. The USCGC Oliver Henry was on patrol for illegal fishing in the South Pacific for a regional fisheries agency when its request to refuel at Honiara was turned down, a US coast guard press officer was quoted as saying. The vessel was then diverted to Papua New Guinea, the official hastened to add.
💬 "The Government of the Solomon Islands did not respond to the US Government's request for diplomatic clearance for the vessel to refuel and provision in Honiara," Kristin Kam, a public affairs officer for the US Coast Guard in Hawaii, said on the incident, "The US Department of State is in contact with the Government of the Solomon Islands and expects all future clearances will be provided to US ships."