China Coast Guard ‘Monster’ back at Panatag

LATEST SIGHTING The China Coast Guard “Monster” ship on Saturday was last spotted some 157 kilometers (85 nautical miles) from Zambales province in the West Philippine Sea, according to the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) which took this photo before sunset from one of its vessels, the BRP Cabra. —PCG

China’s largest coast guard ship continued to conduct an “intrusive patrol” of Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) on Saturday, according to a United States maritime expert.

Ray Powell, director of SeaLight, a program of Stanford University’s Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation (GKC) that keeps track of Chinese activities in the WPS, said the 165-meter China Coast Guard ship with bow number 5901 had been “asserting China’s claim of jurisdiction” about 93 kilometers from Luzon Island.

Nicknamed “The Monster” because of its sheer size, it arrived at Panatag on Wednesday, on New Year’s Day, where it joined three other Chinese coast guard ships—3106, 3302 and 3305—and at least seven Chinese maritime militia vessels, Powell added.

At 12,000 tons, the Monster is five times more massive than either of the two largest ships of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG)—the BRP Teresa Magbanua and Melchora Aquino—Powell noted in a post on X.

Also known to locals as Bajo de Masinloc, Panatag is a resource-rich shoal that has been under Chinese control since 2012, located about 220 km west of Masinloc town in Zambales province.

Earlier position

SeaLight’s Gaute Friis, a defense innovation scholar at GKC, said intrusive patrolling would describe the CCG’s activity “within the exclusive economic zones of other states.”

“These patrols are 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,” Friis said in November 2023.

In June last year, The Monster was spotted within 1 km to 2 km from Panatag. It was seen making a pass near the coastal town of El Nido, Palawan province, later that month.

In July, CCG 5901 got close to BRP Sierra Madre, the Philippines’ military outpost at Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal. The Chinese ship also dropped anchor at Escoda (Sabina) Shoal last year in response to the presence of the PCG’s Magbanua in the area.