The Monster Filipino coast guardsmen aboard BRP Teresa Magbanua catch a glimpse of the largest China Coast Guard ship (with bow number 5901) from a porthole at Escoda (Sabina) Shoal on July 3. - Photo from the PCG
MANILA: The largest coast guard ship in the world, a 12,000-ton vessel owned by China, has left Escoda (Sabina) Shoal in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) after being anchored in the area since July 3, the Philippine Navy said on Tuesday (July 16).
Rear Adm. Roy Vincent Trinidad, Philippine Navy spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, said the ship, also dubbed “The Monster” for its sheer size, has also left the country’s exclusive economic zone.
“It’s no longer at Escoda Shoal. We have to check its latest location,” Trinidad told reporters in Pasay City, adding that the China Coast Guard (CCG) had sent “no replacement” so far.
However, four CCG vessels remained at Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal, another marine feature in the WPS about 67km west of Escoda, according to data from the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
On July 3, the 165-meter CCG ship with bow number 5901 dropped anchor at Escoda, where the Philippine Coast Guard’s (PCG) BRP Teresa Magbanua had been stationed since April this year.
The 97m Magbanua, the PCG’s most modern vessel, was sent to Escoda in response to the presence of Chinese maritime militias and reclamation activities reported in the area.
On Sunday afternoon, another CCG ship with bow number 5303 was spotted about 111km (60 nautical miles) west of Lubang Island or northwest of Mindoro, according to American maritime security expert Ray Powell.
Powell, the director of SeaLight, a program of Stanford University’s Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation that keeps track of Chinese activities in the WPS, said the CCG ship was conducting an “intrusive patrol” in the area.
But Trinidad refused to describe the presence of CCG 5303 ship as intrusive, saying it was “a continuous passage west of Lubang Island, 60 nautical miles from mainland Luzon.”
“It’s freedom of navigation. We have monitored their presence and we were aware that they were there,” he said.
CCG ship 5303 entered the waters off Lubang ahead of a scheduled joint exercise between Philippine and US coast guards.
Trinidad said “it remains to be seen” whether its arrival was connected to the drills, but said the Philippines had issued a radio challenge to the Chinese vessel and did not get a response.
Sino ships at 104
Also on Tuesday, the AFP said it had monitored a total of 104 Chinese vessels, including 94 militia ships, swarming in various parts of the WPS from July 9 to July 15.
The number was higher than the previous week’s total of 94.
“Based on the numbers for the past one month, we have seen a decrease. Last week, we had 94. The previous week, 95. This week, 104.
"So that’s only a very slight increase compared to the previous month,” Trinidad said at a press briefing.
The last bilateral meeting between Manila and Beijing on the WPS situation was held on July 1, following the latest escalation of tensions on June 17 when the CCG rammed and damaged the rubber boats of a Philippine Navy resupply mission to the grounded BRP Sierra Madre, the military outpost in Ayungin.
The incident, which saw CCG personnel screaming orders for the Navy teams to stop while brandishing knives, bolos and axes, resulted in one Filipino losing a thumb because of the ramming.
The AFP has a standing demand for P60 million as CCG payment for the equipment destroyed by the Chinese.
No mission since
Trinidad on Tuesday said there had been no rotation and resupply (Rore) mission to the Sierra Madre since the June 17 incident, but that the troops stationed there still had enough provisions.
The next mission, Trinidad said, would depend on the AFP Western Command which has jurisdiction over the WPS.
“We will ensure that our actions are not escalatory. We will continue the Rore missions. We will continue our maritime and air surveillance flights,” he said.
“We have never been escalatory in our actions.’’
“The Chinese Communist Party’s actions in the West Philippine Sea have always been escalatory,” he added. - The Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN
