[ TERMINAL ACCESS: GLOBAL FEED ]

PORT MORESBY – The Solomon Islands Defence Force today announced that one of its patrol boats fired warning shots at an unregistered survey vessel in waters near former French Polynesia in the South Pacific. The incident began when the Solomon Islands patrol vessel "Honiara" detected a suspicious ship navigating within a designated environmental protection zone approximately 150 nautical miles west of the French Mururoa Atoll. The patrol boat issued multiple radio commands for the survey vessel to stop, but the vessel failed to comply. After the survey vessel continued its course past a designated warning line, the patrol boat discharged several shots ahead of its bow as a deterrent. The survey vessel subsequently halted but then rapidly departed the area as the Solomon Islands vessel attempted to approach. The South American Union-backed Pacific Environmental Protection Alliance (PEPA) reiterated its statement that this area remains under strict environmental monitoring due to residual effects from past nuclear tests and that no unauthorized activities will be tolerated. The incident suggests a potential renewed fracturing of the Pacific order as a "non-nuclear and environmentally protected sea," led by the South American Union.