The National Task Force on the West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS) said Thursday that the largest vessel of the Chinese Coast Guard (CCG 5901) was seen trespassing not only in Philippine waters, but across the exclusive economic zones (EEZs) of neighboring Southeast Asian countries as well.
NTF-WPS deputy spokesperson Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) reported that CCG 5901, dubbed as ‘The Monster,’ made a possible resupply while entering Kagitingan Reef (Fiery Cross Reef) in the Spratlys recently.
The PCG used Canada’s Dark Vessel Detection technology to track the movement of the Chinese vessel in Philippine waters over the last 10 days.
Based on its monitoring, the monster ship departed Hainan, China on 17 June and directly encroached upon the territorial waters of the Philippine-occupied features of Parola and Pagasa. Tarriela said this violated our sovereignty.
“It then proceeded to enter Zamora Reef, where it stayed overnight, before eventually continuing its voyage by passing through Bayani and Union Banks,” he added.
Tarriela also recounted that on 20 June, the monster ship entered Kagitingan Reef and “possibly resupplied for logistics” before continuing on its long voyage, entering the EEZs of Malaysia and Brunei respectively.
The vessel once again headed north and entered the Philippine EEZ once more. It passed through Rizal Reef and made a supply stop at Panganiban Reef on June 23rd, according to the PCG official.
“The following day, (CCG 5901) continued to navigate within the Philippines EEZ, selectively passing through Lawak and Patag, and then making a quick southeasterly turn to pass through Escoda Shoal,” Tarriela noted.
The monster ship then proceeded directly towards El Nido, Palawan, maintaining a close distance of 34 nautical miles from its coastline.
“From there, it made a quick turn towards Bajo de Masinloc (BDM), where it joined three other China Coast Guard vessels that were deployed in the area. After spending a few hours loitering at BDM, CCG 5901 sailed back towards Hainan,” Tarriela said.
Tarriela also said that the monster ship was last monitored at a distance of 46 nautical miles southeast of Sanya, Hainan by Thursday morning.
CCG 5901 weighs 12,000 tons, measuring 165 meters long and 22 meters wide, bigger than the US Navy’s Ticonderoga Class Missile Guided Cruiser and is also bigger than the Arleigh Burke Missile Guided Destroyer. —With Vince Lopez