August 26, 2024
MANILA – A China Coast Guard (CCG) ship rammed a vessel of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) near Escoda (Sabina) Shoal in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) on Sunday afternoon.
Based on a video taken by the Inquirer, CCG Ship 21551 hit BRP Datu Sanday while some of its personnel were seen filming the incident.
JUST IN: China Coast Guard ship 21551 rams the BRP Datu Sanday 10 nautical miles from Escoda Shoal in the West Philippine Sea at about 2:11 p.m. The Inquirer is aboard the BRP Datu Sanday. @inquirerdotnet pic.twitter.com/zSgLjvks4O
— Nestor A. Corrales (@NCorralesINQ) August 25, 2024
The collision occurred about 10 nautical miles from Escoda Shoal at 2:11 p.m.
Another video posted by the Inquirer showed that the CCG ship 4102 fired a water cannon against BRP Datu Sanday while en route to the shoal.
Additionally, six CCG vessels simultaneously fired water cannons against the BFAR vessel.
INQUIRER.net has asked the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) for more details, but it has yet to reply as of posting time.
China’s state broadcaster CCTV reported, “The Philippine vessel 3002 illegally intruded into the waters near Xianbin Reef in the Nansha Islands without permission from the Chinese government.” CCTV referred to the Chinese names for Sabina Shoal and the Spratly Islands.
The vessel then “continued to dangerously approach a Chinese coast guard vessel conducting normal operations”, CCTV said, adding that the coast guard had “taken control measures against the Philippine vessel in accordance with the law and regulations”.
The Philippines a day earlier accused China of recently firing flares at one of its aircraft as it patrolled over the West Philippine Sea Sea.
And on Monday, both countries said their coast guard ships had collided near the disputed Sabina Shoal, located 140 kilometers (86 miles) west of the Philippine island of Palawan and about 1,200 kilometers from Hainan island, the closest Chinese landmass.
Manila had said that it was the first hostile action by Beijing against it near Sabina, where both sides have stationed coast guard vessels in recent months and where the Philippines fears China is about to build an artificial island.
China and the Philippines have had repeated confrontations in the waters in recent months, including around a warship grounded years ago by Manila on the contested Second Thomas Shoal that hosts a garrison.
Last Aug. 13, the Philippine Navy monitored 92 Chinese vessels in various locations within the WPS from Aug. 6 to 12 this year.
Of this number, 10 were CCG vessels, nine were People’s Liberation Army Navy ships, 68 were Chinese maritime militia vessels, and two were research survey vessels.
Ten of the 92 vessels were spotted at Panatag Shoal, 13 at Ayungin Shoal, 38 at the Pagasa Islands, five at Lawak Island, five at Panata Island, 13 at Sabina Shoal, four at Julian Felipe Reef, and 30 at Iroquois Reef.
China claims almost the entire South China Sea and has ignored an international tribunal ruling that its assertions have no legal basis.
It deploys boats to patrol the busy waterway and has built artificial islands that it has militarized to reinforce its claims.