PH experts: Chinese ship damages Pagasa corals with parachute anchor

Filipino divers inspecting the parachute anchor placed by Chinese maritime militia. Photo from the Philippine Coast Guard

[Updated July 14, 2025, 5:23 p.m.]

LAUREL, Batangas — The Chinese militia ship spotted off Pagasa (Thitu) Island deployed a parachute anchor, destroying corals in the area, according to findings of Filipino scientists.

Initially, media reports stated that the militia ship ran aground last June 7, approximately 2.6 kilometers east of the maritime feature, well within its territorial sea.

The maritime militia ship with bow number 16868 is a fishing vessel sailing under the flag of China, with overall length of 32 meters and with width of six meters, according to the global ship tracking website marinetraffic.com.

It remained grounded for nearly three hours during that time before managing to free itself without external assistance, but it was escorted out of the area by the China Coast Guard and two other Chinese vessels, according to National Security Council spokesperson Cornelio Valencia Jr.

No grounding

Unlike early reports, later findings revealed that there are no indications of grounding based on the ground zero damage assessment on June 17, according to Mark Dela Cruz, biologist and the habitat management section chief of the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD).

READ: West-philippine-sea-chinese-ship-runs-aground-off-pag-asa-island/

Dela Cruz said the coral reef fragments in the area would have been pulverized if the militia ship ran aground.

“In this case, we didn’t find any of those indicators,” he said in a press conference in West Philippine Sea transparency office headquarters in Manila. “Instead, we saw indicators of damage like broken fragments of branching corals and chips of fragments of massive corals.”

While it did not run aground, Dela Cruz said the militia deployed a parachute anchor, which was embedded nine meters deep.

A parachute anchor, also known as a sea anchor, is used to stabilize a vessel and slow its drift especially during heavy weather.

Damages

The Chinese parachute anchor damaged 464.96 square meters of coral reefs amounting to more than P11 million, according to Ben Gonzales, scientific advisory panel member of PCSD.

PCSD estimates the value of coral reef at P12,000 per square meter, while another P12,000 per square meter is needed to restore it, according to Gonzales.

Gonzales urged the imposition of computed penalties to the Chinese vessel due to the damage, citing Republic Act 9147 or the Wildlife Resource Conservation and Protection Act.

Asked about possible pursing for damages, Commodore Jay Tarriela, Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, said: “Well, we cannot speak for the People’s Republic of China, but again, as we still accord with them the sense that they are responsible member of the international community, so we are hopeful that, through the Department of Foreign Affairs, we can be able to reach out to them and to present to them the damages they incurred…”

Parachutes remain

Furthermore, Gonzales said existence of the parachute anchor in the area will cause further damage in the area since it will cover the sunlight in the area, further killing the coral reefs under it, while there is also possibility of parachute moving during a strong surge or typhoon which would further cause damage, among other dangers.

To date, parachute anchors remain in the area, according to Dela Cruz, who is also part of the team tasked to retrieve the parachute.

“We tried to remove the parachute, but the six-man team of divers cannot do that without equipment,” he said.

Tarriela said there will be a follow-up operation to retrieve the parachute in Pagasa Island.

“This is the first time that we were able to monitor Chinese maritime militia releasing parachute anchors that eventually damaged our coral reef,” Tarriela said.

Pag-asa Island is the largest maritime feature in the Kalayaan Island Group, which serves as the seat of the local government of the Municipality of Kalayaan in Palawan in the West Philippine Sea.

READ: West PH Sea: New hangar on Pagasa Island finished before yearend – AFP

More than 400 civilian locals call the island home together with stationed military, law enforcement, and civilian government personnel.

Beijing also asserts ownership of Pagasa Island in line with its sovereignty claim of the entire South China Sea, in a claim effectively dismissed by an international tribunal ruling in 2016 which heavily ruled in favor of Manila’s sovereign rights.

Parachute’s a new thing

Meanwhile, Tarriela also noted that, based on PCG’s maritime domain awareness flight, many of the Chinese maritime militia ships swarming the West Philippine Sea are now using the parachute anchor, unlike before when they were using a plain anchor.

“I really don’t know what is the main reason, since previously, the Chinese were using the usual anchor, and this time around they are using a parachute anchor,” he said. /mr