Chinese vessel seen shadowing PCG ship near Panatag Shoal

MANILA, Philippines — A China Coast Guard (CCG) ship has been monitored shadowing a Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) ship near Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal as well as following Philippine ships supposedly patrolling the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ), a maritime security expert said yesterday.

Retired US Air Force Col. Ray Powell, director of SeaLight, a maritime transparency project that monitors and reports activities in the South China Sea, reported that the CCG vessel tailed the PCG ship BRP Gabriela Silang patrolling 50 to 75 nautical miles off Panatag Shoal, also known as Bajo de Masinloc.

“Scarborough Shoal: #Philippines Coast Guard vessel BRP Gabriela Silang patrols 50-75nm NE of the shoal, shadowed by #China Coast Guard 3302, while CCG 3305 guards the shoal entrance. Meanwhile, six Qiong Sansha Yu militia ships arriving shortly from Mischief Reef,” Powell posted on X, referring to Panganiban Reef by its international name.

He added that Chinese vessels returned to the West Philippine Sea after they fled Panatag Shoal last week due to Tropical Storm Enteng.

Six of China’s Qiong Sansha Yu maritime militia ships and one CCG vessel were en route from Panganiban Reef to Panatag Shoal last Sunday.

In another X post yesterday, Powell said a Chinese “flotilla” “formed yesterday north of Reed (Recto) Bank at the edge of the Philippines’ EEZ.”

“I don’t know what it’s up to, but the last time I saw a formation like it – a (Chinese) research ship screened by (Chinese) militia & following a non-standard survey pattern in the South China Sea – it spent an entire month drawing the Mandarin character for ‘China’ off Vietnam’s southern coast in May 2023,” he added.

He used the emoji for China’s flag in referring to the Chinese vessels.

PCG Commodore Jay Tarriela, the agency’s spokesman in the National Task Force on the West Philippine Sea, has yet to issue a statement on Powell’s observations.

China claimed Panatag Shoal, said to be abundant in fish and other marine resources, after a standoff in 2012.

The incident prompted the Philippines to file an arbitration case at the Permanent Court of Arbitration, where the country won in asserting its sovereign rights in