West Philippine Sea: Chinese militia ships flee Panatag as Enteng nears

MANILA, Philippines — Chinese maritime militia (CMM) vessels fled Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal as Tropical Storm Enteng headed towards the West Philippine Sea.

West Philippine Sea monitor Ray Powell told INQUIRER.net on Tuesday said six CMM vessels from Panatag Shoal appeared to be now heading toward Hainan Island in China. However, the China Coast Guard (CCG) still maintains its presence at the shoal.

“The large CCG ships are probably able to ride out the storms much better than the militia,” Powell, head program head of Stanford University’s Gordian knot Center for National Security Innovation, said in a message on X (formerly Twitter).

READ: Bad weather may cause decrease of Chinese militia ships in West PH Sea

Enteng, which reportedly killed 13 people so far, is forecast to head towards the West Philippine Sea on Wednesday before intensifying into a typhoon on Thursday, according to state meteorologists.

Despite this, Powell said a CCG ship with bow number 3305 remains in the vicinity waters of the shoal.

READ: Parts of northern Luzon stay under Signal No. 2 due to Enteng

On Monday, a second CCG ship, with hull number 3106, was also spotted there, but Powell said it turned off its automatic identification system (AIS), which is supposed to broadcast its track.

“Its [AIS is] currently dark so I can’t confirm its location this morning,” Powell said of CCG 3106.

However, he said it is “very possible” that CCG 3106 remains there.

China seized control of Scarborough Shoal’s lagoon in 2012 after its coast guard’s standoff with Philippine vessels.

Since then, at least two CCG vessels have been deployed in Panatag Shoal, according to the Philippine Coast Guard.

Beijing asserts sovereignty in almost the entire South China Sea—including most of the western section of Manila’s exclusive economic zone—even if such a claim has been effectively invalidated by the arbitral award issued in July 2016.

The landmark ruling stemmed from a case filed by Manila in 2013 or a year after its standoff with Beijing at Panatag Shoal.