JAPAN - The Australian Ministry of Defense has reported that Chinese destroyer sonar pulses likely caused injuries to its divers, after which the divers were forced to exit the water within Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone during a scheduled port visit.
The HMAS Toowoomba was operating within Japan's EEZ and stopped to conduct diving operations to clear fishing nets that had become entangled around its propellers when a PLA-N destroyer (DDG-139) operating close by closed in on their position and "operated a hull-mounted sonar in a manner that posed a risk to the safety of the Australian divers who were forced to exit the water".
