Thread by @GordianKnotRay

🚨1/NOW: 🇵🇭#Philippine Coast Guard BRP Cabra & Sindangan escorting resupply to outpost aboard BRP Sierra Madre at 2nd Thomas Shoal. 🇨🇳#China Coast Guard 4301 shadowing & 12 Qiong Sansha Yu maritime militia ships in blockade positions. However … [🧵1/x]

2/CCG ships 21551 & 21556, logged by the 🇵🇭PCG during the 8 Sep resupply mission, have not been visible on AIS (poss. broadcasting weaker Class B signals). Seems likely that they are still in the area. CCG 5305 mid-Sep & if there was a replacement it’s running AIS-dark. [🧵2/x]

3/Already getting tense with 🇨🇳militia ship Qiong Sansha Yu bow-crossing 🇵🇭PCG’s Cabra at 0604 local time. Only ~100m clearance moving at 10knots. [🧵3/x]

*Qiong Sansha Yu 00227

4/At 0623 local time Qiong Sansha Yu 00110 crossed BRP Sindangan's stern within ~70m. [🧵4/x]
(Note: Clarification on previous post above ... bow-crossing militia ship ID was Qiong Sansha Yu 00227)

👀4/🇨🇳Militia ship Qiong Sansha Yu 00227's AIS track is literally superimposed over 🇵🇭BRP Cabra's as of 0643L. AIS tracking is often inexact, but the two ships appear to be very closely engaged. [🧵4/x]

5/🇵🇭BRP Cabra as of 0701 local time now seems to be closely engaged with 🇨🇳militia ship Qiong Sansha Yu 00003. Again, AIS not super accurate but clearly lots of dangerous maneuvers by ships enforcing #China’s blockade of 2nd Thomas Shoal. [🧵5/x]

6/Big picture as of 0717L: 🇵🇭BRP Sindagan ~13km from entrance to 2nd Thomas Shoal surrounded by 4 🇨🇳militia ships.
🇵🇭BRP Cabra ~18km out confronted by 2 🇨🇳militia+CCG 4301.
History suggests other CCG likely in area but not detectable.
6 🇨🇳militia guard shoal entrance. [🧵6/x]

7/0759 local time - now both 🇵🇭BRP Sindangan & Cabra are so closely engaged with 🇨🇳militia ships that their tracks are superimposed with Qiong Sansha Yu 00110 and 00227, respectively. [🧵7/x]

8/Intense harassment continues as of 0836—all of this while the vastly outnumbered 🇵🇭PCG ships (bright white tracks) on an escort mission never got within 10km of the shoal. This is utterly reckless & outrageous behavior by 🇨🇳#China, and somebody is going to get hurt. [8/x]

9/There they are! The sharp-eyed @MarinefordAxe79 catches crucial additional detail. 🇨🇳#China Coast Guard 5204 & 21551—apparently not broadcasting on Class A AIS—are both also closely engaged with 🇵🇭BRP Cabra & BRP Sindangan, together with 6 militia ships. [🧵9/x]

https://twitter.com/marinefordaxe79/status/1715893873858564136

10/Here are the total known (so far) 🇨🇳PRC ships actively blockading 2nd Thomas (Ayungin) Shoal during today's 🇵🇭Philippine resupply mission:
3x China Coast Guard - (4301, 5204 & 21551)
16x Maritime militia - (14x Qiong Sansha Yu, 2x Qiong Lin Yu)

11/🚨WATCH THIS SPACE!#China Coast Guard does not usually issue press releases while a resupply mission is still ongoing, suggesting a possible incident involving the CCG & one/both of the 🇵🇭 small wooden resupply boats. Looks like CCG trying to get ahead of a bad story. [🧵11/x]

https://twitter.com/scs_pi/status/1715910165994877067

12/🚨🚨A #China Coast Guard ship struck a Philippine resupply vessel during this morning’s (22 October) mission at Second Thomas (Ayungin) Shoal.

13/STATEMENT OF THE NATIONAL TASK FORCE FOR THE WEST PHILIPPINE SEA
22 October 2023

At around 0604H this morning, while conducting a regular and routine Rotation and Resupply (RORE) mission to BRP SIERRA MADRE (LS57), dangerous blocking maneuvers of China Coast Guard vessel 5203 (CCGV 5203) caused it to collide with the Armed Forces of the Philippines-contracted indigenous resupply boat Unaiza May 2 (UM2) approximately 13.5 nautical miles (NM) East Northeast of LS57. The provocative, irresponsible, and illegal action of CCGV 5203 imperiled the safety of the crew of UM2.

During the same RORE mission, Philippine Coast Guard vessel MRRV 4409’s port side was bumped by Chinese Maritime Militia vessel 00003 (CMMV 00003) while it was lying to approximately 6.4NM Northeast of Ayungin Shoal.

The RORE mission is still ongoing, with Unaiza May 1 (UM1) reaching BRP SIERRA MADRE to successfully resupply our troops and personnel stationed there.

Relevant authorities are briefed of the incident and developments in the ongoing RORE mission.

The National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS) condemns in the strongest degree the latest dangerous, irresponsible, and illegal actions of the CCG and the Chinese Maritime Militia done this morning, in violation of Philippine sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction and in utter blatant disregard of the United Nations Charter, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGS) and relevant international maritime conventions, and the 2016 Arbitral Award.

14/More video of the two incidents in which 🇨🇳#China's Coast Guard and militia ships collided with the 🇵🇭#Philippines' Coast Guard & resupply vessels, while blockading the Philippine outpost aboard BRP Sierra Madre Second Thomas (Ayungin) Shoal.

https://x.com/davidyusantos/status/1715935156262109500?s=46&t=gTapJ7e4I3eqS8B4d10wxw

15/Please note this situation is NOT over. As of noon, the 🇵🇭#Philippines' two coast guard ships are *still* surrounded by seven of 🇨🇳#China's militia ships and probably the two "dark" coast guard ships previously noted, about 20 km east of Ayungin Shoal. [🧵15/x]