MOSCOW. March 4 (Interfax-AVN) - Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu will not discuss restoration of the Russian naval base in Cam Ranh during his visit to Vietnam, a source at the Navy Staff told Interfax-AVN on Saturday.
"The restoration of the naval base or the opening of a logistic center in Cam Ranh is not on the agenda. There are no such plans. There is simply no need for that," the source said.
The Russian Defense Ministry press service said earlier that Shoigu would visit Cam Ranh while in Vietnam.
Pacific Fleet ships going to the Gulf of Aden to fight sea pirates successfully replenish reserves, do minor repairs and give rest to their crews on a routine basis, he said.
"The Navy has lesser tasks in that region than it used to have in the Cold War years. There is no need to keep a Pacific Fleet squadron or a base there," the source noted.
The staff representative stressed though that Russian and Vietnamese navies were interested in cooperation in certain areas.
Moscow and Hanoi agreed in 1979 on the 25-year lease of the Cam Ranh port to the Soviet Navy. The Soviet naval base was later transformed into the 922nd logistic base of the Pacific Fleet. Vietnam permitted simultaneous presence of ten warships, eight submarines with the mother ship and six support vessels in Cam Ranh.
The base provided logistic and technical support to the 17th squadron of the Pacific Fleet and rest of crews on combat missions in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Base stored 7,000 tons of petroleum products, anti-sub and missile weaponry and spares. Marines protected the premises.
The base was leased free of charge. The Russian administration decided in 2001 not to extend the agreement and to pull out from the base ahead of time. The pullout from Cam Ranh ended in May 2002.