China’s enormous ship, known as the CCG 5901 and referred to as “the monster” due to its size, has joined a fleet of Chinese vessels in the vicinity of Ayungin Shoal, which falls within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
The CCG 5901, weighing 12,000 tons, is armed with heavy machine guns and features a helicopter platform and hangar capable of accommodating larger rotary-wing aircraft.
It is considered the world’s largest ship of its kind. Alongside another CCG vessel, 4203, and a growing swarm of 32 Chinese maritime vessels, the CCG 5901 has positioned itself approximately 104 nautical miles west of Palawan.
This information is based on monitoring conducted through the automatic identification system (AIS) as of Friday morning.
It is worth noting that Philippine security officials have not yet confirmed this latest development regarding the presence of Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea.
In a separate incident last June 30, a group of forty-eight Chinese fishing vessels was observed swarming around Iroquois Reef, located south of the oil and gas-rich Recto Bank within the Philippines’ EEZ.
This information was obtained during a recent air patrol conducted by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). (ai/mnm)
