Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on Tuesday deployed new assets to watch over China’s illegal activities in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).
PCG Spokesperson for WPS Commodore Jay Tarriela said BRP Gabriela Silang (8301) was relieved by the 44-meter BRP Suluan (MRRV-4406) to continue Manila’s vigilant monitoring of the Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) vessel CCG-3304.
CCG-3304 has been operating illegally off the coast of Zambales Province at an average distance of 60-70 nautical miles. However, it was replaced by another Chinese vessel with bow number 3103. It was located 76 nautical miles from Pundaquit, Zambales as of Tuesday evening.
“Although this new vessel is smaller than its predecessor, it measures 77.7 meters in length and 10.4 meters in width, making it still larger than the 44-meter BRP Suluan,” Tarriela said.
Despite challenging sea conditions with wave heights of two to three meters, BRP Suluan maintained close monitoring of CCG-3103, effectively preventing the larger vessel from approaching the Zambales coastline.
“Furthermore, the PCG vessel has aggressively radio-challenged CCG-3103, asserting that its illegal presence violates the Philippine Maritime Zones Act, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and the 2016 Arbitral Award,” Tarriela said.
China’s biggest ship dubbed as “The Monster” is now 113 nautical miles away from Zambales, as of PCG’s last monitoring, still within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
