China ships return to WPS after severe weather conditions

July 28 ------ After severe weather conditions caused by a series of typhoons in the country, a total of four to five Chinese Coast Guard ships have returned to Scarborough Shoal (Bajo de Masinloc), the West Philippine Sea (WPS) monitor said.

Sealight Director Ray Powell told Manila Standard that the ships are now patrolling within 25 to 30 nautical miles of the shoal. The number of foreign coast guard ships varied, as one may be returning home while another had turned off its automatic identification system (AIS). “Four of the five CCG ships came back to the shoal within the past 24 hours. The fifth (CCG 3104) has since gone AIS-dark,” Powell said. Six Chinese warships are also expected to return by Sunday morning. “They are patrolling around the shoal within a radius of 25–30 nautical miles, resuming their previous exclusion zone,” Powell added.

Bajo de Masinloc is located 124 nautical miles off Masinloc, Zambales, and is considered within the Philippines’ 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone, based on the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Source: manilastandard.net