(St. Vincent Tribune) ManilaThe Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on Sunday reported a recent incident of “close distance maneuvering” by a Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) vessel in the disputed South China Sea that “constrained” the movement of a Philippine ship sailing nearby.
The March 2 incident took place during Philippine maritime patrol operations around the Scarborough Shoal, locally known as Bajo de Masinloc, the PCG said in a news release.
It was yet unclear whether the Philippines had lodged a diplomatic protest for the incident. The PCG said it had to wait for the go-signal from the country’s National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea before making the incident public.
The incident involved a Chinese Coast Guard vessel with bow number 3305 that conducted close distance maneuvering over an area of approximately 21 yards (19.2 meters) in the direction of Philippine vessel BRP Malabrigo, the PCG said.
“This constrained the maneuvering space of BRP Malabrigo — a clear violation of the 1972 International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGS),” the PCG said… Read More
