‘Chinese boat not swarmed by Philippine vessels’

MANILA, Philippines — Satellite images contradict China’s claim that Chinese vessel Yuemaobinyu 42212 was swarmed by Filipino fishing boats near Reed Bank on the night of June 9 this year.

Jay Batongbacal, director of the UP Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea, said the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) satellite data showed only a few fishing vessels were in the area that Sunday evening.

The images contradicted the Chinese claims that the ship captain was afraid to rescue the Filipino fishermen following the incident on fears they might be swarmed by numerous Filipino fishing vessels nearby.

“It (Chinese fishing vessel) clearly ran through and sunk a Philippine fishing boat, and abandoned the fishermen to fend for themselves and possibly die. And the PRC Government’s reaction is to try to pin the blame on alleged unidentified ‘Filipino fishing boats.’ Which one do you think acts more like a friendly, credible and responsible maritime power?” Batongbacal said in his Facebook account.

Batongbacal shared the images, including one from Google Earth Blue Marble Basemap, which contain coordinates and elevation data, overlaid with the image of boat positions from the VIIRS-equipped satellite.

The data are culled from satellite night-light imagery, then made available as a GoogleEarth layer file so anyone with GoogleEarth app can use it, he said.

Batongbacal said the VIIRS is the same data used by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, and non-government organizations to monitor fishing activity in general.

Governments as well as NGOs use VIIRS data to track “dark fleets” or fishing vessels that do not comply with the mandated use of Automatic Identification System and Vessel Monitoring System.

“They (fishing vessels) are spread over the wide area of Reed Bank; the closest two lights are about three to five nautical miles (approximately seven to nine kilometers) apart. What 7-8 vessels swarm of night-marauding Filipino fishing boats is China talking about?” Batongbacal remarked.

The Chinese embassy in Manila confirmed Yuemaobinyu 42212 indeed sank the Filipino fishing boat but the Chinese could not rescue the floundering fishermen after getting “besieged” by seven to eight other Filipino boats.

“Yuemaobinyu 42212, a Chinese fishing boat from Guangdong Province, China, engaged in a light purse seine operation, was berthed at the vicinity of Liyue Tan (Reed Bank),” the embassy said, referring to Recto Bank.

“It was suddenly besieged by seven or eight Filipino fishing boats. During evacuation, 42212 failed to shun a Filipino fishing boat, and its steel cable on the lighting grid of the starboard bumped into the Filipino pilothouse. The fishing boat tilted and its stern foundered,” the embassy statement added.

The statement of the Chinese embassy in Manila on the Chinese ship sinking of Philippine fishing boat is also revealing, Batongbacal said.

He said it confirms that a Chinese fishing vessel, Yuemaobinyu 42212, was involved in the incident resulting in the sinking of the F/B Gemver 1.

“The Chinese vessel was indeed engaged in fishing operations in Recto Bank, in violation of Philippine fisheries law and regulations,” he said.

The Chinese vessel ran into the Gemver 1 as China described this as having taken place when the vessel lighting grid got entangled with the Filipino boat’s pilot-house, pushing the smaller vessel’s rear into the water. 

“It does not contest the fact that it caused the F/B Gemver 1 to sink,” he added.

Despite being aware of the collision, the Chinese vessel did not lend assistance to the Filipino crew, leaving them in the water with their capsized boat in violation of international maritime laws, maritime customs and basic human decency.

The embassy also debunked the fishermen’s claim they were rescued by Vietnamese fishermen, saying other Filipino boats came to rescue them.

The captain of the Chinese vessel, according to the embassy, tried to pluck the fishermen out of the water but had to turn away after the Filipino boats made threatening moves.

“Therefore, having confirmed the fishermen from the Filipino boat were rescued and on board the Filipino fishing boats, 42212 sailed away from the scene,” read the statement.

‘Zero credibility’

Batongbacal disputed the Chinese statements.

“China claims that the Chinese vessel was evacuating from the area because it was besieged by 7 or 8 Filipino vessels. This claim has absolutely zero credibility,” he said.

Batongbacal said the Chinese statement can’t seem to decide whether the alleged siege took place before or after the incident. 

“At first, it says they were besieged, which was the reason they tried to leave (which caused the incident), and then, they said they left because they were afraid of being besieged (after the incident took place). This kind of basic inconsistency reveals its fallacy,” he said.

Batongbacal added there is no record of any group of Filipino fishing vessels “besieging” any other vessel anywhere in the high seas. He said even sea pirates that used to roam in the southern seas do not operate that way. 

He said Chinese maritime militia vessels have been involved is such coordinated swarming operations.

It would be extremely difficult for Filipino fishing boats, Batongbacal said, which are almost all low-lying, unarmed wooden bancas equipped with outriggers like the Gemver, to lay siege on a larger steel-hulled vessel like Yuemaobinyu 42212, a Chinese purse seiner.

“They cannot even get close enough to the (Chinese ship’s) hull to mount any kind of attack. Considering they are made of wood and bamboo, they cannot even threaten the steel-hulled industrial boats of China,” he said.

The statement also alleged the Chinese vessel stayed long enough to witness other vessels lend assistance to Gemver.

“Even assuming it to be true, it only confirms that it refused to lend assistance and decided to simply watch while the F/B Gemver 1 sank and its crew were in danger of being lost to the sea,” Batongbacal said.

“The statement concludes that the alleged facts show that it was not a ‘hit and run’ incident. Actually, the effect is the opposite: it even makes the narrative even more like a vehicular hit-and-run,” he said.

Batongbacal said China’s statement, despite its subsequent and sudden retraction, has “utterly failed the test, and shown that in truth it has absolutely no respect for this country and its citizens.” – With Paolo Romero