In a spectacular own-goal that exposes the perils of aggressive posturing, two Chinese vessels – a People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) destroyer and a China Coast Guard (CCG) cutter – smashed into each other last week while chasing a Philippine Coast Guard vessel in the disputed South China Sea. The incident, near Scarborough Shoal, almost certainly resulted in sailors on the Chinese cutter being killed.
Bullying like this is commonplace there but when it merges with such poor seamanship, grey-zone activity quickly moves to the daft-zone as comedy and tragedy merge to create a deadly maritime farce.
The clash unfolded during a Philippine mission to aid local fishermen at Scarborough Shoal, a submerged reef about 140 miles west of Luzon, firmly within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
The BRP Suluan, a 270-ton Philippine patrol vessel, was escorting supply boats when the CCG cutter 3104 – a repurposed Type 056 corvette – gave chase at high speed, blasting water cannons and attempting hazardous blocking manoeuvres as they have done so many times before.
Enter the PLAN’s Type 052D destroyer stage left, literally. She is a 7,500-ton behemoth armed to the teeth with guns and missiles, who had conducted her own close passes in the run up to the collision. And by close passes, I mean inside 10 yards, at which range any margin for error has long since gone.
Video was taken from the Suluan over her stern and sees the Chinese cutter weaving as it approaches her stern at high speed. The next thing we see is the bow of the warship looming impossibly close to the stern of the Suluan and the bow of the cutter. Turns out, it was impossible. The next time we see the cutter, it is stopped in the water with its bow folded in like paper.
In a spectacular own-goal that exposes the perils of aggressive posturing, two Chinese vessels – a People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) destroyer and a China Coast Guard (CCG) cutter – smashed into each other last week while chasing a Philippine Coast Guard vessel in the disputed South China Sea. The incident, near Scarborough Shoal, almost certainly resulted in sailors on the Chinese cutter being killed.
Bullying like this is commonplace there but when it merges with such poor seamanship, grey-zone activity quickly moves to the daft-zone as comedy and tragedy merge to create a deadly maritime farce.
The clash unfolded during a Philippine mission to aid local fishermen at Scarborough Shoal, a submerged reef about 140 miles west of Luzon, firmly within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
The BRP Suluan, a 270-ton Philippine patrol vessel, was escorting supply boats when the CCG cutter 3104 – a repurposed Type 056 corvette – gave chase at high speed, blasting water cannons and attempting hazardous blocking manoeuvres as they have done so many times before.
Enter the PLAN’s Type 052D destroyer stage left, literally. She is a 7,500-ton behemoth armed to the teeth with guns and missiles, who had conducted her own close passes in the run up to the collision. And by close passes, I mean inside 10 yards, at which range any margin for error has long since gone.
Video was taken from the Suluan over her stern and sees the Chinese cutter weaving as it approaches her stern at high speed. The next thing we see is the bow of the warship looming impossibly close to the stern of the Suluan and the bow of the cutter. Turns out, it was impossible. The next time we see the cutter, it is stopped in the water with its bow folded in like paper.