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Ghio Ong - The Philippine Star
February 16, 2025 | 12:00am
This handout aerial photo taken on January 13, 2025 and released by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on January 14 shows Chinese Coast Guard ship 5901 sailing in the South China Sea.
Philippine Coast Guard / Handout via AFP
MANILA, Philippines — The China Coast Guard (CCG)’s so-called monster ship was detected moving away from the West Philippine Sea (WPS), according to Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Commodore Jay Tarriela.
Using Canada’s Dark Vessel Detection Program, the PCG spotted the 165-meter CCG 5901 “60.6 nautical miles away from Paracel Island” at 5 p.m. last Feb. 14, Tarriela said in a statement.
Paracel Island is an archipelago in the South China Sea, which is disputed by China, Vietnam and Taiwan.
Coming from Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal, also known as Bajo de Masinloc, CCG 5901 “headed south towards Recto Bank” and “made a sharp turn to proceed to Paracel,” said Tarriela, PCG’s spokesman on WPS issues.
He noted CCG 5901 has been deployed in the WPS by the Chinese government “to conduct illegal patrols and unlawful activities within the Philippine Exclusive Economic Zone” at 200 nautical miles.
It has been patrolling the WPS “for 46 days now” since it departed from Hainan.
The PCG started driving CCG vessels out of the WPS since Jan. 4, only to be replaced by other CCG ships mostly being deployed near Panatag Shoal.
