PCG yet to send ship to check on Chinese vessel near Benham Rise

WHY IS IT HERE? The Chinese- flagged Shen Kuo is seen in the waters northeast of Viga, Catanduanes province, in this photo taken from a Philippine Air Force (PAF) plane. —PHOTO FROMTOWSOL, PAF

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) has yet to deploy a ship to check on the Chinese research vessel in the eastern section of the country as most of its assets are concentrated in the West Philippine Sea.

Commodore Jay Tarriela, PCG spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, on Wednesday said that they are still waiting for an available vessel to check on “Shen Kuo” which was found “loitering” near Philippine (Benham) Rise since last week.

“To be honest, right now, our limited number of vessels are strategically in the western side in the western seaboard,” Tarriela said in a press briefing.

“Should there be already an available vessel that we can deploy, we will be deploying it to check on the Chinese survey ship,” he also said.

Despite the absence of vessels, Tarriela, said that the PCG could still monitor the research vessel.

“Even if we don’t have the physical vessel to check on the Chinese survey ship, the Philippine Coast Guard has different means for us to monitor the presence and the activity of the Chinese survey ship,” he pointed out.

READ: Unauthorized presence of Chinese research ship seen off Catanduanes

Over the weekend, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)  reported that the Shen Kuo was spotted off  Viga town in Catanduanes.

Commodore Roy Vincent Trinidad, Navy spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, on Tuesday also revealed that Shen Kuo was laying out an unidentified piece of equipment around 100 miles east of Catanduanes.

READ: China’s research ship in eastern PH using unidentified equipment

“The Philippine Air Force on a maritime surveillance flight was able to get a picture of the ship lowering an unidentified equipment probably for scientific research or studies,” Trinidad said in a regular AFP briefing.

“We are still trying to identify the particular type of equipment that was monitored,” he added.

This is the second time this year alone that a Chinese research vessel was spotted in the country’s eastern section near the Philippine (Benham) Rise, a 24-million-hectare undersea feature part of the Philippine continental shelf and is inside the country’s exclusive economic zone.

Last year, Tarriela said the PCG needs at least 20 offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) to effectively patrol the West Philippine Sea and other territorial waters of the country.

Tarriela noted that  the PCG currently has only three OPV that could embark on long patrols.