South China News

China on Wednesday launched sea trials for the Fujian, its third and most advanced aircraft carrier, state media reported.The start of tests by the Chinese navy came nearly two years after the aircraft carrier was first unveiled in June 2022.The Fujian, entirely designed and built domestically, is larger and more advanced than the Shandong, commissioned in late 2019, and the Liaoning, which China bought second-hand from Ukraine in 1998.The development of the Fujian is part of a build-up central to President Xi Jinping's bid to make China the preeminent military power in the region…

The Philippines on Tuesday accused China's coast guard of harassment and of damaging two of its boats in a disputed area of the South China Sea, rejecting Beijing's position that it had expelled those vessels from the hotly contested shoal.The Philippines' task force on South China Sea issues said a coast guard ship and a fisheries vessel were damaged by water cannons used by Chinese coast guard ships, as the vessels headed to Scarborough shoal to assist Filipino fishermen in the area.The fisheries vessel was rammed thrice both by the Chinese coast guard and maritime vessels…

China's coast guard said on Monday it "expelled" a Philippine coast guard ship and another vessel from waters adjacent to the Scarborough Shoal, Chinese state media reported.The coast guard did not provide additional information, according to the report from Chinese state media broadcaster CCTV, but the incident was the latest to occur between the two countries at the disputed atoll in the South China Sea.Beijing and Manila have repeatedly clashed in recent months at the submerged reef…

The Philippines on Saturday denied a Chinese claim that the two countries had reached an agreement over an escalating maritime dispute in the South China Sea, calling the claim propaganda.A spokesperson at China's embassy in Manila said on April 18 that the two had agreed early this year to a "new model" in managing tensions at the Second Thomas Shoal, without elaborating.Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro said on Saturday his department was "not aware of, nor is it a party to, any internal agreement with China" since President Ferdinand Marcos Jr took office in 2022.

SCHOTTEL will equip Guangzhou Port Group’s latest e-tug with two RudderPropellers type SRP 360 in the LE-Drive variant. The new harbor tug measures 37.9 x 10.5m and will be mainly used for berthing assistance, escorting and towing in the Port of Guangzhou, China. Each SRP has an input power of 1,500 kW and a propeller diameter of 2.2m. The 360-degree steerable thruster combines maximum maneuverability and bollard pull with outstanding efficiency during free sailing, providing…

China and Europe face a "slow motion train accident" as a rising tide of protectionism threatens to become a full trade war, the head of a European business lobby group warned on Wednesday, a day after Germany's chancellor conveyed European concerns to Beijing.Jens Eskelund, president of the European Chamber in China, said that while some worries about trade in both countries were legitimate, there was a risk of unproductive decoupling if European and Chinese leaders did not increase…

The U.S. Coast Guard has rejected comments by a Chinese diplomat that its recent boardings of Chinese fishing boats in the Pacific Islands alongside local police are illegal, saying the joint patrols are at the behest of Pacific nations to protect coastal fisheries.Reuters reported last month that six Chinese fishing boats were found to be violating Vanuatu's fisheries law after being inspected by local police who were on board the first U.S. Coast Guard boat to patrol the waters of the Pacific Islands nation.China's Ambassador to New Zealand Wang Xiaolong…

China's coastguard said it had taken measures against Philippine vessels in disputed waters of the South China Sea on Saturday, while the Philippines decried the moves, including the use of water cannons, as "irresponsible and provocative".China's actions led to "significant damage" and injury to personnel on a civilian boat hired to resupply troops, the Philippine task force on the South China Sea said in a statement.The incident occurred in the Second Thomas Shoal and Spratly Islands waters, according to the Chinese coastguard.

The U.S. military will not be involved in development of a port in the Philippines' remote northernmost islands near Taiwan, the local governor said, removing a potential source of friction with China over the U.S. presence in the region.The governor of the Batanes islands, less than 200 km (125 miles) from Taiwan, said in August she had sought U.S. funding for a new port there. The U.S. embassy had at the time confirmed its diplomats and U.S. Army Pacific (USARPAC) experts had…

Esgian reports that offshore drilling contractors secured additional backlog in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, Egypt, Nigeria, and Brazil and operators confirmed new discoveries in Indonesia, Côte d’Ivoire, and China in its Week 10 Rig Analytics Market Roundup.ContractsDiamond Offshore has executed a two-year contract extension with a subsidiary of bp in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico for the 12,000-ft drillship Ocean BlackHornet.Shelf Drilling’s 250-ft jackup Rig 141 has secured a two-year…

The Philippines summoned China's deputy chief of mission in Manila on Tuesday to protest what it called "aggressive actions" by Chinese naval forces against a resupply mission for Filipino troops stationed on a South China Sea shoal.Manila's South China Sea task force said Philippine vessels carrying out the routine mission to the Second Thomas Shoal were "harassed (and) blocked" by Chinese maritime militia and coast guard ships on Tuesday.Chinese coast guard ships fired water cannon…

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)…

Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has approved the third phase of the military's modernization, which includes the purchase of the country's first submarine, in order to defend its maritime sovereignty in the disputed South China Sea.Navy spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, Roy Trinidad, said on Thursday the third phase of modernization reflected a shift in strategy away from internal to external defense."We may not be a large navy...but we would have a navy that will take care of our territorial rights and sovereignty…

China will on Friday conduct sea trials for its first ocean research drilling vessel, capable of drilling at depths of more than 10,000 meters (32,800 feet), a key step towards beefing up the country's deep-sea oil and gas exploration capabilities.It is China's first vessel capable of ultra-deepwater research and drilling, Chinese state media reported on Monday. It can travel 15,000 nautical miles (27,780 kilometers) and operate for 120 consecutive days without returning to port.

Every day, nearly 60 fully loaded very large crude-oil carriers sail between the Persian Gulf and Chinese ports, carrying about half of the oil that powers the world's second-largest economy.As the vessels enter the South China Sea, they ply waters increasingly controlled by China's growing military, from the missile batteries and airfields at its bases on disputed islands to its stealthy Type 055 destroyers.But when crossing the Indian Ocean, joined by others headed to China from Africa and Brazil…

The Philippines and China traded accusations on Sunday over a collision of their vessels near a disputed shoal in the South China Sea as tensions over claims in the vital waterway escalate.The Philippine coast guard accused China of firing water cannons and ramming resupply vessels and a coast guard ship, causing "serious engine damage" to one, while China's coast guard said the Philippine vessel intentionally rammed its ship.China claims almost the entire South China Sea, a conduit for more than $3 trillion of annual ship-borne commerce…

As tankers, car-carriers and other merchant vessels pass through the Malacca Strait, unlit fishing boats criss-cross the shipping lanes at night, making it one of the most challenging sea areas of the world to transit, even during peacetime.Should a major war ever come to Asia, those challenges could be magnified spectacularly, with hundreds of vessels abruptly leaving the international waters in the middle of the Strait for what they hope might be the relative safety of the national territorial waters of nearby neutral nations.The Strait – between Thailand…

The Philippines on Monday accused Chinese coastguard vessels of "intentionally" colliding with its vessels on a resupply mission in a disputed part of the South China Sea, as ties deteriorated between the Southeast Asian U.S. ally and Beijing.Both sides traded accusations after the latest incident on Sunday, which was the most serious yet in the waters around the disputed Second Thomas shoal, though no one was harmed.China said on Sunday that the Philippine boats "bumped dangerously" with the coastguard vessels and "Chinese fishing vessels" fishing there.On Monday…

South Korea's Hanwha Ocean has pitched offers to build submarines to Canada, the Philippines, and Poland, a company official said on Wednesday, as the country pushes to become one of the world's top four defense exporters.Canada is studying potential builders for new submarines and has expressed interest in Hanwha Ocean among other foreign rivals, Kim Seung-min, leader of Hanwha Ocean's naval and special ship overseas marketing team, told Reuters in an interview, without naming the competitors."We are now checking on our shoelaces at the start line before the race kicks off…

The crew of the Philippine coastguard boat watch anxiously as an imposing Chinese vessel draws near and cuts off its path, coming within a metre of collision in a vast stretch of open water in the South China Sea.The captain of the BRP Sindangan shuts off the engine and activates the reverse throttle. China's coastguard issues a warning via megaphone to leave as the Filipino crew watch closely on a radar that shows two vessels side by side."In accordance with international and Philippine national laws we are proceeding…

An oil tanker registered under the flag of the Marshall Islands was suspected to have been involved in an 'accidental collision' with a Philippine boat in the South China Sea that killed three fishermen, the Philippine coast guard said on Wednesday.Philippine coast guard spokesperson Armando Balilo said that the incident was under investigation but that coast guard monitoring pointed to the Pacific Anna, registered under the flag of Marshall Islands, as the likely vessel that collided with the fishing boat.The coast guard said in a statement the Philippine boat "failed to detect" the approaching foreign vessel because of poor weather, resulting in a collision that caused the boat to capsize.

The Philippines on Sunday accused China's coast guard of installing a "floating barrier" in a disputed area of the South China Sea, saying it prevented Filipinos from entering and fishing in the area.Manila's coast guard and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources "strongly condemn" China's installation of the barrier in part of the Scarborough Shoal, Commodore Jay Tarriela, a coast guard spokesperson, posted on the X social media platform, formerly Twitter.The barrier blocking fishermen from the shoal was depriving them of their fishing and livelihood activities…

On a windswept island 50 miles north of Seattle sits a U.S. Navy monitoring station. For years, it was kept busy tracking whale movements and measuring rising sea temperatures. Last October, the Navy gave the unit a new name that better reflects its current mission: Theater Undersea Surveillance Command.The renaming of the spy station at the Whidbey Island naval base is a nod to a much larger U.S. military project, according to three people with direct knowledge of the plans:…