4 Zambales dredging vessels held by PCG
SAN ANTONIO, ZAMBALES—Four vessels involved in dredging operations in Zambales province had been detained by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) after inspections revealed multiple violations of maritime regulations.
One of the detained vessels, the Chinese-origin MV Kang Ling 539, was earlier flagged by a maritime security analyst for operating under multiple flag identities while operating in Philippine waters, prompting the order for inspection by President Marcos. Sand extracted by these vessels is transported to reclamation sites in Manila Bay, according to local governments in Zambales.
Commander Euphraim Jayson Diciano, head of the PCG Zambales station, told the Inquirer on Wednesday that during inspections conducted on Tuesday night, MV Kang Ling 539, which is owned by Golden Tiger Shipping Agencies Inc., was found to have five “detainable deficiencies” and seven minor ones.
Chief of these violations is its alleged broadcasting of multiple identities while moving between Manila Bay and the dredging site along Sto. Tomas River in San Felipe, Zambales.
“The vessel, currently in Manila, was detained due to multiple deficiencies including issues with its Automatic Identification System (AIS), which was not set to a working language, limiting the Filipino crew’s ability to operate it properly,” said Diciano.
He added that based on interviews conducted by the boarding team with the ship’s captain, the AIS had, for some reason, been reset to its default setting.
Apart from MV Kang Ling 539, three other vessels owned by Golden Tiger—MV Southward 279, MV Southward Flying 289 and MV Hong Xiang 668—were also detained.
Upon inspection, MV Southward 279 had four deficiencies, and seven each for MV Southward Flying 289 and MV Hong Xiang 668.
‘Inaccurate, speculative’
In a letter sent to PCG on Tuesday, a copy of which the Inquirer obtained on Wednesday, Golden Tiger denied the allegations against MV Kang Ling 539, calling them inaccurate and speculative.
The company said the vessel’s change of flag was lawfully processed and approved by the government, with all required documents for importation, registration and reflagging properly submitted and accepted.
It also denied claims of intentional manipulation of the vessel’s name or AIS data, saying such allegations are unsupported by technical or factual evidence.
Golden Tiger Shipping said variations in AIS data might occur due to technical factors such as signal reception, software updates or equipment configuration, and stressed that it did not intentionally falsify or manipulate AIS data or the vessel’s identity.
It also said that the all foreign crew members, among them Chinese nationals, were registered and documented with the Department of Labor and Employment and with the Bureau of Immigration.
On Tuesday, Palace press officer Claire Castro announced the President’s order to PCG to board all dredging vessels operating in Manila Bay reclamation projects to inspect their vessel registration and AIS transmission.
The directive came after a maritime security analyst Ray Powell, director of maritime group SeaLight, came out with a report stating that MV Kang Ling 539 allegedly broadcast at least 30 different identities while operating in Philippine waters since its arrival from China in August 2023.
