CCG ship on 'patrol' in Batangas

July 16 ------ A CHINA Coast Guard (CCG) vessel has inched closer to the Philippines, sailing past an island located just 40 kilometers west of Calatagan in Batangas over the weekend, a maritime group said. Based on monitoring by SeaLight, a maritime transparency project that monitors and reports activities in the South China Sea, the 135-meter CCG 5303 arrived 60 nautical miles west of Lubang Island at 4:20 p.m. on Sunday.

Retired United States Air Force Col. Ray Powell, director of SeaLight, said the ship is conducting an intrusive patrol. Powell said that intrusive patrolling is a key component of "China's strategy to reinforce its expansive maritime claims in disputed waters." "By doing so, China aims to establish a continuous presence and gradually normalize its maritime activities in these areas," he said.

CCG 5303 is the same vessel that persistently engaged in provocative actions and illegal monitoring" of a hydrographic survey conducted by BRP Hydrographer Ventura, a vessel of the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority last April 15. BRP Hydrographer Ventura conducted a hydrographic survey at 110.46 nautical miles northwest off Bolinao, Pangasinan, near Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough Shoal) and was escorted by Philippine Coast Guard ship BRP Gabriela Silang. It was also one of three CCG vessels that used water cannons on a Philippine patrol and supply mission near Bajo de Masinloc that same month.

CCG 5303 also patrolled the waters of Malaysia's exclusive economic zone last February 18.

Source: manilatimes.net