Foreign ships banned from Cam Ranh

Foreign ships banned from Cam Ranh

VIETNAM: Vietnam said on Tuesday that foreign naval vessels, including U.S. ships, were welcome to call at its civilian ports but not at the southern Cam Ranh military base previously used by the Russians.

Both the United States and China have eyed the facilities at Cam Ranh, and Washington has suggested an open port arrangement that would allow warships of all nations to make calls.

First used by the colonial French and upgraded by the U.S. forces during the Vietnam War, the Cam Ranh base in the southern province of Khanh Hoa is one of Asia's finest deep-water anchorages that offers strategic access to the South China Sea.

In May, Russia lowered its flag at Cam Ranh, its largest overseas naval base and also its largest military station of any kind outside the Warsaw Pact in the early 1980s, after sharp cutbacks in its military budget. --Reuters