Chinese ship movement in West PH Sea indicates search, rescue – monitor

Chinese ships are being monitored during a “maritime sweep” off Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal. SCREEN GRAB FROM SEA LIGHT

MANILA, Philippines — A China Coast Guard (CCG) ship and several maritime militia vessels appeared to be conducting search and rescue (SAR) operations off Scarborough (Panatag) Shoal in the West Philippine Sea on Tuesday following the collision of two Chinese vessels.

SeaLight Director Ray Powell said at least one CCG vessel and eight militia ships “have been conducting SAR ops” 15 to 25 nautical miles east of the shoal.

Powell said the ships were conducting a “parallel sweep” in the maritime area.

“They basically never act this way, so it seems reasonable to conclude, based on the circumstances, that they’re searching for something [or someone],” Powell, program head of Stanford University’s Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation, told Inquirer.

About 20 to 30 nautical miles from the search and rescue (SAR) area is the Philippine Coast Guard’s BRP Teresa Magbanua.

Powell said the PCG ship could monitor Chinese activity from its current position.

Meanwhile, SeaLight reported that the damaged vessel, CCG-3104, had turned off its Automatic Identification System.

On Monday, CCG-3104 chased BRP Suluan and executed a risky maneuver on the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) ship, resulting in a collision with a Chinese warship. Both vessels were damaged, with CCG-3104’s forecastle badly crushed.

China Coast Guard-3104 sustains damage to its forecastle after being rammed by the Chinese navy in Panatag Shoal on Monday, Aug. 11, 2025 | 📷: PTV reporter Patrick De Jesus via John Eric Mendoza, INQUIRER.net

READ: Chinese ships collide off Scarborough Shoal; PH Coast Guard offers aid

BRP Suluan’s crew offered assistance to the Chinese crew who may have been injured due to the collision.

READ: PCG awards crew for ‘professionalism’ amid Scarborough mission tension

On Tuesday, PCG chief Admiral Ronnie Gil Gavan led the awarding ceremony for the 43 crew members of BRP Suluan for their “professionalism” during the incident.

Beijing continues to enforce what Powell described as an “exclusion zone” in Panatag Shoal, defying the 2016 arbitral ruling that declared the area a traditional fishing ground for the Philippines, China, and Vietnam.

The ruling stemmed from the case filed by former President Benigno Aquino III against China before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2013, a year after the tense standoff at Panatag Shoal.

Since China’s effective takeover in 2012, local authorities say at least two CCG ships have been stationed near the shoal’s lagoon at all times, preventing the PCG and Filipino fishers from entering./mcm