A Chinese navy warship and a China Coast Guard cutter crashed into one another in the South China Sea on Monday while chasing a Philippine Coast Guard vessel, video footage shows.
Footage shared by Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson Jay Tarriela showed China Coast Guard vessel 3104 tailing Philippine patrol ship BRP Suluan at high speeds while spraying its water cannon around 11 nautical miles east of the contested Scarborough Shoal.
As it closed in on the Philippine vessel, the Chinese coast guard ship suddenly slammed into a larger Chinese Navy destroyer that unexpectedly passed between the Philippine vessel and the Chinese cutter. The footage, taken from aboard the Suluan, reveals significant damage to the hulls of both Chinese vessels.
The Chinese coast guard vessel “performed a risky maneuver,” which led to the impact with the warship,” Tarriela wrote in a statement on social media. “This resulted in substantial damage to the CCG vessel’s forecastle, rendering it unseaworthy.”
Tarriela said the Philippine Coast Guard immediately offered to help the Chinese with man-overboard recovery and medical aid for any injured crew. A few sailors could be seen on the bow of the Chinese Coast Guard vessel just moments before it hit the destroyer, but it’s unclear how many may have been hurt in the incident.
In a separate statement, Tarriela said that the Philippines routinely urges China to follow international regulations that prevent collisions and to “approach these matters with professionalism, especially considering their role in enforcing maritime laws.”
“We have also emphasized that such reckless behavior at sea could ultimately lead to accidents,” he said. “Our thoughts are with the CCG personnel who may have been injured in this incident.”
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The Philippine Department of National Defense later referred to the crash as “atrocious and inane behavior” by China. Beijing’s embassy in the US did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
The incident was not addressed during the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs press briefing on Monday; however, the spokesperson did criticize Philippine behavior in the South China Sea, accusing it of infringing on Chinese sovereignty as justification for engaging the Philippine vessel with water cannons.
The collision came amid the latest in a long list of confrontations between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea. Tensions between the two countries have skyrocketed in recent years, and the Scarborough Shoal, a small chain of reefs, has been a point of contention between Beijing and Manila.
The Philippines has accused Chinese Coast Guard vessels of engaging in dangerous and provocative maneuvers with its ships in the past.
