Washington/Shanghai: A US guided missile cruiser operating in international waters in the South China Sea was forced to take evasive action last week to avoid a collision with a Chinese warship maneuvering nearby, the US Pacific Fleet said in a statement on Friday.

The incident came as the USS Cowpens was operating near Chinas only aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, and at a time of heightened tensions in the region following Beijings declaration of an Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ) farther north in the East China Sea, a US defence official said.

“Eventually, effective bridge-to-bridge communications occurred between the US and Chinese crews, and both vessels maneuvoered to ensure safe passage,” said the defence official.

The near miss was the most significant US-China maritime incident in the South China Sea since 2009, said security expert Carl Thayer at the Australian defence force academy .

Meanwhile sources said that the near-collision act was a deliberate and highly unusual move by China.