Philippines Coast News

The Philippines' coast guard (PCG) on Sunday accused China of "dangerous and blocking" manoeuvres while its vessel patrolled near Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea this month.Manila's coast guard said in a statement that on a nine-day patrol near the shoal by its 97-meter (318-foot) vessel BRP Teresa Magbanua, four Chinese coast guard (CCG) vessels had shadowed the boat more than 40 times.Four Chinese maritime militia vessels were also present near the shoal, the PCG said.Located within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone (EEZ)…

The Philippines Coast Guard has awarded a contract to OXE Marine’s exclusive distributor in the Philippines, Dynamic Power Marine and Industrial Hardware in partnership with DM8 Composites, to procure 40 high-speed vessels equipped with twin OXE300 outboards. As a result of the awarded contract, Dynamic Power will supply 80 engines to equip the high-speed vessels to support operations all over the Philippines.The vessels will be built by DM8 Composites, a FRP boat builder in the Philippines.

Australia's Defence Minister Richard Marles said on Saturday that the wreck of a Japanese merchant ship, sunk in World War Two with 864 Australian soldiers on board, had been found in the South China Sea, ending a tragic chapter of the country's history.Marles said the SS Montevideo Maru, an unmarked prisoner of war transport vessel missing since being sunk off the Philippines' coast in July 1942, had been discovered northwest of Luzon island.The ship was torpedoed en route from what is now Papua New Guinea to China's Hainan by a U.S. submarine, unaware of the POWs onboard.

The Philippine Coast Guard has stepped up its presence in the disputed South China Sea by deploying additional vessels and conducting more sorties and overflights to protect maritime territory and the country's fishermen, its chief said on Monday.Beijing's sweeping claims of sovereignty over the waterway have drawn repeated complaints from Manila, which has ramped up its rhetoric against reported Chinese construction activities and the "swarming" of Chinese vessels in the resource-rich waterway."We're making sure that the presence of coast guard vessels is felt by the fishermen in the area…

The International Maritime Organization has recognized the contributions of a long-standing maritime industry chief and has presented its highest bravery accolade to two maritime pilots from Brazil and an off-duty seafarer from the Philippines.The event, which premiered on April 7, saw Peter Hinchliffe, former Secretary-General, International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), receive the prestigious International Maritime Prize for 2019.The 2020 IMO Awards for Exceptional Bravery at Sea were awarded to Marcio Santos Teixeira and Fabio Rodrigues Alves de Abreu (Brazil)…

On Saturday, June 9, the captain and crew of the Wallem-managed vessel the bulk carrier KSL Seoul rescued six fishermen after their boat was involved in an accident and subsequently capsized.The KSL Seoul was passing through the Mindoro Strait en route to Port Walcott in West Australia when they spotted the capsized fishing boat, the Sister Reds with six Filipino fishermen clinging onto its hull.The KSL Seoul immediately notified the Philippine coastguard and the local Maritime Rescue Coordinating Council (MRCC) and changed course to approach the boat.

The Philippine coast guard was searching on Monday for 17 crew of a landing craft that went adrift south of the capital, Manila, one of three weekend accidents at sea, an agency spokesman said. Sea accidents are frequent in the Philippines, comprised of more than 7,000 islands, with lax regulations, ageing marine vessels and strong waves all contributing. "Seventeen crew are missing and we are still looking for them," said the spokesman, Captain Armand Balilo, adding that the craft lost power near Fortune Island, a tourist spot in Batangas province. Elsewhere, authorities on Sunday rescued all 14 boat passengers, mostly tourists, on the holiday island of Palawan and 19 people from a boat in the southeastern province of Camarines Norte…

The Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP) Information Sharing Centre and the Indian Coast Guard have commenced the 2017 Capacity Building Workshop in New Delhi, India. Themed “Striding Over Domestic Challenges,” this year’s workshop draws ReCAAP Focal Points from maritime enforcement and government agencies across Australia, Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Japan, Korea, Laos, Myanmar, the Netherlands, Norway, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and the United States. Participants will pool case studies drawn from recent incidents from their respective countries, discuss challenges, and share best practices to effectively deal with the evolving patterns of piracy and armed robbery against ships in Asia.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (MOFA Japan) and the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), in cooperation with the ReCAAP Information Sharing Centre (ReCAAP ISC), jointly launched the inaugural Capacity Building Executive Programme on combating piracy and armed robbery against ships in Asia in Singapore. The Capacity Building Executive Programme—targeted at senior-level personnel with 10 to 15 years of experience and above in maritime enforcement—will see ReCAAP Contracting Parties from ASEAN (Cambodia, Brunei, Laos, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam), together with representatives from Indonesia and Malaysia as dialogue partners, participate in a 10-day training held both in Singapore and Japan from September 27 to October 6, 2017.

Indonesia renamed the northern reaches of its exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea as the North Natuna Sea on Friday, the latest act of resistance by Southeast Asian nations to China's territorial ambitions in the maritime region. Seen by analysts as an assertion of Indonesian sovereignty, part of the renamed sea is claimed by China under its contentious maritime boundary, known as the 'nine-dash line', that encompasses most of the resource-rich sea. Several Southeast Asian states dispute China's territorial claims and are competing with China to exploit the South China Sea's abundant hydrocarbon and fishing resources. China has raised the ante by deploying military assets on artificial islands constructed on shoals and reefs in disputed parts of the sea.

The Philippines' territorial dispute with China over the South China Sea has not caused Manila to rebalance diplomatic ties with either its ally, the United States, or neighbouring China, Foreign Minister Perfecto Yasay said on Wednesday. An arbitration court in the Hague infuriated China in July by ruling that China had no historical title over the South China Sea and that it had breached the Philippines' sovereign rights with various actions there. "We want to make close friendship with China. It does not mean that we'll weaken our friendship with the United States," Yasay told Reuters during a break in a meeting of the senate foreign relations committee. On Tuesday evening, President Rodrigo Duterte said he expects talks with China over the maritime dispute within a year.

In the light of three incidents where the crew of tug boats were abducted in the waters off Eastern Sabah and Southern Philippines, the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia Information Sharing Centre (ReCAAP ISC) published a special report on the ‘Abducting of Crew from Tug Boats in Waters off Eastern Sabah and Southern Philippines’. Between March and July 2016, six incidents occurred on board five tug boats towing barges and one fishing trawler, says the report. The report provides an update of the situation, which focuses on the modus operandi of the perpetrators, the status of the abducted crew and the actions taken to combat the events that have occurred. As a result of these six incidents, 33 crew members have been abducted.

Chinese maritime authorities must "blacklist" 31 boats operated by a North Korean firm that came under U.N. Security Council sanctions this week, according to a Ministry of Transport document reviewed by Reuters - a signal that China is enforcing tough new curbs aimed at Pyongyang's banned nuclear program. The notice, dated March 3, says maritime safety agencies must "urgently" determine whether 31 vessels belonging to Ocean Maritime Management Co (OMM) are in Chinese harbors or waters, and notify the ministry. The latest U.N. sanctions, drafted by the United States and China, blacklist the vessels. The ministry's notice says authorities must not allow the vessels to enter Chinese harbors, adding the measures were part of the "exceedingly sensitive" work of enforcing the U.N. sanctions.

On October 3, NYK Joanna, a containership operated by NYK, rescued seven fishermen in distress off the coast of the Philippines. While the NYK vessel was sailing on October 3 from Vungtau, Vietnam, to Tokyo, Japan, the ship’s crew discovered the fishermen drifting off the coast of Philippines and rescued all of them in about two hours. The fishermen had departed from Pangasinan in the Philippines on September 30, and their boat had overturned and sunk in bad weather on October 2. The seven fishermen were due to disembark from NYK Joanna at the port of Tokyo on October 7 and then return home. Ship management: NYK Shipmanagement Pte. Ltd.

On July 7, Crimson Polaris, a wood-chip carrier operated by NYK Line, rescued nine fishermen in distress off the coast of the Philippines. While Crimson Polaris was sailing from Australia to China through a navigational lane in the South China Sea on July 7, the ship’s crew members spotted the fishermen, pulled them to safety, and began administering first aid. The fishing boat had departed from Bolinao in the Philippines on July 3 and had overturned and sunk in bad weather two days later. The fishermen were rescued on July 7, and handed over to the coast guard the next day and returned home.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Philippine President Benigno Aquino agreed on Thursday to start negotiations on an accord for the transfer of defense equipment and technology, as the two nations bolster security ties amid heightened concerns over Beijing’s increasing assertiveness at sea, reports Reuters. The two leaders also shared “serious concern on unilateral actions to change the status quo in the South China Sea,” according to a joint declaration they issued after their summit talks, with China’s recent rapid and massive reclamation work in mind. China has become increasingly assertive in the South China Sea, building artificial islands in areas over which the Philippines and other countries have rival claims.

The hijacked Indonesian cargo ship Rehoboth has been found abandoned in waters off Mati town in Davao Oriental province off the southern Philippines coast, says the  the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG). PCG spokesperson Armand Balilo said the PCG- Southeastern Mindanao district was informed that the M/T Rehoboth was found aground off Barangay Cabuaya. Four personnel from the local PCG district office were sent to verify the report. Balilo said the PCG personnel returned to the ship to gather more information and monitor any oil spill in the area. The vessel was seized on Jan. 28 near Paraitan Lembeh Island, North Sulawesi, by Filipino-speaking pirates. The ship's captain, Ridwaan Balati, told investigators the pirates were armed with guns and bladed weapons.

An ailing seafarer was evacuated by the Phlippines Coast Guard from a Curacao-flagged vessel in the vicinity waters of Lubang Island in the morning of January 12. Able-bodied seaman (AB) Vasilijs Mahins reportedly incurred an open fracture on his lower right leg while working onboard MV Transporter. The vessel's ship master Capt. J. Kabicenko immediately coordinated with the Coast Guard Action Center (CGAC) around 10:30 a.m. of the said date for the medical evacuation of Mahins. Despite having most ships and air assets engaged for the Papal Visit security, Chief of Coast Guard Staff Capt. Oscar Endona deployed MCS 3004 to rendezvous with MV Transporter near Lubang Island. MCS 3004 was previously placed under the Operational Control of Task Group Papal Visit.

Twenty-six Filipino seamen were rescued by the crew of a Chinese vessel in Camiguin hours after their cargo ship sunk the morning of Friday, January 9, the Philippines Coast Guard reported. The survivors were onboard LCT 378 when it was battered by big waves and strong winds at the vicinity waters of Camiguin Island around 4 a.m. Capt. Edilberto I. Jugarap reportedly sent a distress signal when the ship continued to list at about 15 degrees to port side as water flooded in the cargo hold. Jugarap and his men abandoned ship at around 8:30 a.m. before LCT 378 totally capsized 20NM from the shoreline of Camiguin. The distress call was earlier received by MV Tongying and later rescued the 26 seamen onboard two inflatable rafts.

A cargo-passenger vessel in Cebu was held in Cebu by the Philippines Coast Guard Saturday, January 3, for overloading passengers. M/V Graceful Star, skippered by Capt. Pretchard Gayo, reportedly departed the port of Baybay, Leyte carrying a total of 736 passengers. Said vessel owned by Roble Shipping Lines is authorized to transport only 692 passengers. Upon arrival in Pier 4-Cebu, the personnel of Coast Guard Sub-Station (CGSS) Tinago immediately conducted an actual headcount as passengers disembarked the ship. According to the coast guard, 44 excess passengers were found by the joint team headed by CGSS Tinago personnel together with Field Security – Central Visayas and LET Coast Guard Station Cebu. Personnel of CGSS Tinago explained to Capt.

Philippines Coast Guard search and rescue teams are searching for nine missing crewmembers from the cargo vessel M/V Sea Merchant which sunk approximately five nautical miles southeast of Malabrigo Point in Lobo, Batangas at around 6:45 a.m. January 1. The missing crewmembers reportedly boarded a life raft, while 11 other crewmembers were rescued by the passing M/T Mactan Island after it has received the distress signal from the sinking vessel. M/V Sea Merchant was carrying 20,040 bags of cement to Antique from Bauan Port where it loaded 16,000 liters of diesel oil. Inquiry from Celso Rey Baiza, Chief Officer of M/V Sea Merchant revealed that while the vessel was navigating towards Dumali Point…

A storm off the Philippines caused a ship grounding incident in Antique yesterday morning which claimed one casualty, local authorities reported. The 18 other seafarers involved in the incident are reported safe. The Philippines Coast Guard’s investigation revealed that M/Tug Benny and its towing barge Brian took shelter at the vicinity waters of Barangay Balud, Tobias, Antique as Tropical Depression Seniang battered the Visayas region. Both vessels drifted toward the shoreline due to strong winds and waves. Twelve crew members from Barge Brian were able to swim towards the shoreline while the remaining seven crew of M/Tug Benny transferred to the barge waiting for rescue, the coast guard said. Upon receiving a VHF call from barge master Dillio S.

Philippines Coast Guard District Northern Mindanao conducted rescue operations to various flooded barangays of Butuan due to tropical depression Agaton. The rescue efforts resulted to a total of 639, which includes 350 adults, 255 children and 34 infants.