China Coast Guard nearly collides with Philippine vessel near Zambales
MANILA, Philippines — A Chinese Coast Guard ship came close to hitting a Philippine vessel during a confrontation in waters off Zambales over the weekend, according to the Philippine Coast Guard.
PCG spokesperson Jay Tarriela said the presence of the CCG vessel also marks China's return to patrolling near the Zambales coastline after a brief lull — part of a persistent strategy meant to normalize Beijing's presence in the West Philippine Sea.
The near-collision took place on Sunday, April 6, when the 44-meter PCG vessel BRP Cabra was on its second day of challenging the much larger 99-meter CCG vessel 3302 in the waters near Zambales.
BRP Cabra was initially deployed on Saturday, April 5 after monitoring the Chinese vessel operating some 83 to 85 nautical miles off the coast of Palawig, Zambales.
"Disregarding collision regulations, they appeared to be moving forward on a head-to-head collision course towards the Philippine Coast Guard vessel," Tarriela said during a press conference on Monday, April 7.
"You can just imagine how it would impact the possibility of collision," Tarriela added, referring to the significant size difference between the two vessels. "Through the seamanship skills of the Philippine Coast Guard sailors, we were able to prevent such collision from happening."
A statement by Tarriela on the day of the incident described CCG vessel 3302 as having conducted "reckless and dangerous maneuvers, displaying a blatant disregard for safety."
While he did not specify exactly how close the China vessel came to colliding with BRP Cabra, Tarriela said the China vessel's "attempted head-on collision with the smaller PCG vessel" could potentially be a breach of the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, 1972 (COLREGs).
These are international rules that govern how vessels should navigate safely at sea. These rules specifically require ships to maintain proper lookout, proceed at safe speeds, and take clear action to avoid collisions when encountering other vessels head-on.
By Sunday afternoon, BRP Cabra had successfully pushed the Chinese vessel farther away to about 92 to 96 nautical miles off the coast of Capones Island, according to a statement by the PCG spokesperson on Sunday.
As of Monday morning, the CCG vessel had moved even farther, to a distance of 96 to 98 nautical miles off the coast of Palawig, Zambales.
The PCG has been conducting hourly radio challenges to the Chinese Coast Guard to signal that the Philippines does not recognize China's claims to the area.
"We have to do this in order for the international community to be aware that the Philippines is not allowing China to normalize this kind of illegal patrol that they are conducting off the coast of Zambales," Tarriela said at the Monday press conference.
Tarriela said the PCG's "legitimate maritime patrol" is in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the 2016 arbitral award that rejected Beijing's expansive claims to the South China Sea, and the Philippine Maritime Zone Act.
Resurgence of patrolling
China's Coast Guard vessels have been routinely operating near Zambales since early this year. After a brief period of reduced activity in recent weeks, Tarriela said he sees the latest incident as a possible resumption of China's more persistent patrolling tactics closer to Philippine shores.
The PCG first reported the presence of China's 12,000-ton "monster ship," CCG vessel 5901, approximately 54 nautical miles off Capones Island in Zambales on January 4.
Since then, China has maintained a rotating fleet of different Coast Guard vessels in the area, most of which tower over the PCG's much smaller ships.
Tarriela estimated that five or six different Chinese vessels have taken turns patrolling the waters off Zambales over the past three months.
"Every time that we monitor such China Coast Guard vessel moving closer, at least less than 80 [nautical miles], that's the time that we deploy a Coast Guard vessel to push them back," Tarriela said during the press conference on Monday.
He noted that the Chinese vessels typically move farther away only upon the deployment of a PCG vessel, but are then replaced by another CCG ship, continuing the cycle of Beijing's presence in the Philippines' own exclusive economic zone.
The persistent presence of CCG vessels in the waters off Zambales has brought Beijing's maritime muscle closer to an area that has not traditionally been a flashpoint between the two countries.
As a result, Manila has branded China's maritime presence near Zambales as escalatory actions that violate both Philippine and international law.
No innocent passage in movement of China research ship
During the same press conference on Monday, Tarriela also said the PCG had detected another Chinese research vessel operating in Philippine waters further north.
Using dark vessel detection technology provided by the Canadian government, the PCG identified the Chinese research vessel Songshan Daswei, which has been operating in the Philippine exclusive economic zone near Batanes since April 2.
He added that the vessel appears to be "conducting maritime scientific research because of its consistent patterns of navigation," which he described as a "measured consistent pattern" rather than innocent passage.
As of Monday morning, the vessel was 103 nautical miles from Itbayat, Batanes.
"As we speak right now, the commandant of the [PCG] has already directed our Coast Guard aircraft to challenge this Chinese research vessel and for us also to document such unlawful activity of the Chinese research vessel in our own exclusive economic zone up north," Tarriela said.
China's increasing incursions into the Philippines' EEZ are part of its broader actions in the South China Sea, where it claims historic rights to almost all waters through its "nine-dash line." An international tribunal invalidated this claim in 2016.
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