Navy: 2 Chinese vessels at Benham Rise now outside PH EEZ

The two Chinese vessels earlier spotted “loitering” around the Benham Rise have now departed the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, the Philippine Navy (PN) said Sunday.

Interviewed on Super Radyo dzBB, PN spokesperson Commodore Roy Vincent Trinidad said that PN forces will launch an air surveillance flight on the resource-rich Philippine Rise, located east of Northern Luzon.

“Maga-attempt sila ulit ngayon. Bagamat kahapon ay na-monitor naman na ito’y nasa labas na ng ating EEZ, as of yesterday, alas 3 ng hapon,” Trinidad said.

(They will attempt an air surveillance flight today. Although yesterday at 3 p.m., they already monitored that the Chinese vessels were already outside our EEZ.)

It was former United States Air Force official and ex-Defense Attaché Ray Powell who disclosed that two Chinese research survey vessels left port at Longxue Island in Guangzhou on February 26 and moved east southeast through the Luzon Strait.

As of 1 March, he said the vessels were “loitering” east of Luzon in the Northeast corner of Benham Rise, which is within the Philippines' EEZ.

Trinidad said the surveillance mission will determine what kind of Chinese vessels that were spotted near the Benham Rise.

He also noted that the monitoring and surveillance in the area is almost 24/7.

“‘Yung ating presence hindi pa natin naaabot ‘yan sapagkat mas malayo ito at mas remote sa karagatan compared sa West Philippine Sea na detachment natin,” he said.

(Our presence has not yet reached Benham Rise because it is farther and more remote compared to our West Philippine Sea detachments.)

“May mga kaukulang capability development plans naman tayo lalong lalo na sa Benham. Iba ang sea condition diyan sa Benhap sapagkat nakaharap sa Pacific Ocean. Ang sa West Philippine Sea, there are times na rough ang seas pero mas rough ang sa eastern seaboards,” he added.

(We have capability development plans, particularly with Benham. The sea conditions are different there because it faces the Pacific Ocean. In the West Philippine Sea, there are times when the seas are rough, but the eastern seaboards are rougher.)

The Benham Rise is a volcanic plateau which is part of the country’s extended continental shelf in the Philippine Sea. According to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the Philippines has “sovereign rights” in the Benham Rise, meaning other states can’t conduct any exploration and exploitation activities there without permission.

Last September, three Chinese survey ships were spotted near the Philippine Rise and within the EEZ that is believed to be rich in oil and gas reserves, and other marine resources.

China has claimed their ships were merely in transit in those waters.

"Passing thru the exclusive economic zone of a coastal state is allowed naman under unclos doing research or other activities, they will have to inform the coastal state and get the consent of the coastal state," Commodore Trinidad said in a 24 Oras Weekend report on Sunday.—Giselle Ombay/RF, GMA Integrated News