A screen-grab from a video released by the Philippine Coast Guard, showing a China Coast Guard vessel colliding into BRP Teresa Magbanua on 31 August 2024. (Philippine Coast Guard)
The Philippine Coast Guard's (PCG's) lead Teresa Magbanua-class offshore patrol vessel (OPV) sustained multiple damages after a collision with a China Coast Guard (CCG) boat on 31 August near a disputed South China Sea feature known as the Sabina Shoal.
According to a statement released by PCG spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea Commodore Jay Tarriela on the same day, the CCG vessel “deliberately rammed and collided with the BRP Teresa Magbanua three times, despite no provocation from the Philippine Coast Guard”.
Sabina Shoal is an atoll located about 78 n miles northwest off the Philippines' Palawan island and about 750 n miles off mainland China. China refers to the feature as Xianbin Jiao while the Philippines calls it the Escoda Shoal.
Accompanying Tarriela's statement were a series of videos and images indicating that Teresa Magbanua was surrounded by at least five Chinese maritime militia boats, three CCG vessels and two People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) tugboats, at the time of the collision.
From the videos, the vessel that collided into Teresa Magbanua can be identified as the CCG's Zhaojun (Type 718B)-class 100 m OPV Haijing 5205. In one of the videos, it can be seen clearly that Haijing 5205 had a stern collision with the starboard side of Teresa Magbanua's flight deck.
Subsequent images released by the PCG on the same day indicate that Teresa Magbanua sustained a 90 cm indentation near its flight deck and a hull breach that measures about 1.5 m wide at its stern as a result of this collision.
Looking to read the full article?
Gain unlimited access to Janes news and more...