Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr has ordered his coastguard to inspect dredging vessels operating in Manila Bay after a US-based maritime monitoring group alleged a Chinese ship had used different identities and flags while working in local waters, a tactic it claimed could skirt Philippine law.
On Tuesday, Marcos directed the coastguard to verify the registrations and identities of dredgers – large vessels that excavate and move seabed material – involved in reclamation projects within the bay, an area close to the Philippine Navy and coastguard headquarters and a few kilometres from the presidential palace.
Dredging is a key part of land reclamation projects that supply sand and fill for coastal developments, but such vessels are also closely scrutinised by maritime authorities because of their potential strategic and environmental impact.
“The Philippine Coast Guard is investigating 27 dredging vessels, 23 in Manila Bay and four in Zambales [a coastal province in western Luzon],” coastguard spokeswoman Captain Noemie Guirao-Cayabyab told This Week in Asia.
“The investigation will also include the possible changing of their identities in their Automatic Identification Systems [AIS].”
Marcos’ order followed a Monday report by Sealight, an American project which tracks maritime “grey zone” activities, that said one Chinese vessel had used numerous identities inside Philippine waters for more than two years.
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