Philippine ship damaged in Chinese water cannon attack

MANILA, Philippines — A boat commissioned to bring supplies to troops manning a grounded vessel at Ayungin Shoal in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) suffered serious engine damage after it was blasted with a water cannon by the China Coast Guard (CCG).

Commodore Jay Tarriela, Philippine Coast Guard (PCG)-WPS spokesperson, confirmed on X that a regular routine resupply and rotation or RORE mission to the BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin was conducted yesterday morning.

“BRP Cabra, Unaizah Mae 1 (UM1) and M/L Kalayaan water cannoned by China Coast Guard. M/L Kalayaan suffered serious engine damage. Contrary to China Coast Guard disinformation, UM1 rammed by CCG vessel,” Tarriela said.

The National Task Force-WPS (NTF-WPS), of which the PCG is one of the member-agencies, said in a statement that while the two supply boats M/L Kalayaan and UM1 – escorted by the PCG’s BRP Cabra and BRP Sindangan – were traversing the WPS, they were reportedly harassed and blocked by the CCG and Chinese maritime militia (CMM) vessels. 

The NTF-WPS said that the CCG and CMM ships also executed dangerous maneuvers on the two civilian supply vessels from the Philippines, and seriously placed the lives of the Filipino crew in danger. 

“CCG vessel 5204 deployed a water cannon against the Philippine supply vessels causing severe damage to M/L Kalayaan’s engines, disabling the vessel and seriously endangering the lives of its crew,” the NTF-WPS said.

As of press time, the Sindangan was reported to be safely towing the disabled Kalayaan back to Ulugan Bay in Palawan.

The task force also reported that the mast of the PCG’s other vessel Cabra was also damaged after it was allegedly directly targeted by the full strength of the CCG vessel’s water cannon.

It added that the “PCG vessels and the resupply boats UM1 and M/L Kalayaan were subjected to reckless and dangerous harassment at close range by CCG and Chinese Maritime Militia vessels on their approach to Ayungin Shoal.”

The NTF-WPS said Beijing performed “extreme and reckless actions” when its CCG 21556 vessel reportedly rammed UM1. 

But despite these attempts to thwart the RORE, UM1 was able to successfully reach BRP Sierra Madre and is currently