Indian security forces bolstered their presence on the East Coast of Tamil Nadu in anticipation of the Yuan Wang 5 arrival in Hambantota Port, Sri Lanka. The Indian government reportedly pressured the battered Sri Lankan government, which was recently overthrown by popular revolt to not allow the Satellite tracking vessel passage, due to collection concerns.

The Sri Lankan Ministry of Defense published this official confirmation moments ago, telling the international community that the ships arrival will be deferred entirely, only allowing the ship to refuel at the port.

The Yuan Wang-class (Long View) are used for tracking and support of satelliteand intercontinental ballistic missiles by the People’s Liberation Army Strategic Support Force of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).  It is important to note that Yuanwang class is not a single class of identical design, but instead, a group of different designs grouped under the same series that share the one name. Yuan Wang 5 is the third generation tracking ship of Yuan Wang series, and entered service on 29 September 2007. Built by Jiangnan Shipyard, Yuan Wang 5 has a displacement of 25,000 tones and withstand wind scale up to 12, and perform duties in sea state 6. The general designer of both Yuan Wang 5 & 6 is Mr. Huang Wei, the general engineer of the 701st Institute of China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC). (Wiki)

The Indian Ministry of Defense vehemently protested the arrival of the vessel due to its ability to detect and track telemetry data of Indian weapons launches as well as potential to intercept satellite, VHF, and UHF communications.