PCG deploys ship, planes to challenge Chinese vessel near Hubo Reef

MANILA — The Philippine Coast Guard has deployed sea and aircraft vessels against a Chinese research vessel that has been found conducting fishing and research activities near Hubo Reef in the West Philippine Sea.

The PCG said in a statement that PCG Commandant Admiral Ronnie Gil Gavan ordered to challenge and disrupt the illegal marine scientific research of the Chinese research vessel Tan Suo Yi Hao, which was found operating without authorization inside the Philippine Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the vicinity of Hubo Reef (Hardy Reef) in the West Philippine Sea.

The Chinese vessel was spotted approximately 12 nautical miles northwest of Katimugan Bank and was found to have been conducting diving operations. The vessel apparently intended to stay within the area for at least another week. 

Tan Suo Yi Hao is operated by the Institute of Deep-sea Science and Engineering of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, based in Sanya. It serves as a mothership for China’s deep-sea manned submersibles, including the Fendouzhe, and is equipped with deep-sea winches, sounding systems, and sediment collection devices for seabed investigation. 

On Sunday morning, a PCG Islander aircraft located Tan Suo Yi Hao approximately five nautical miles west-northwest of Hubo Reef. 

“The PCG aircraft issued multiple radio challenges to the Chinese research vessel, all of which went unanswered,” said the PCG on Sunday.

The PCG aircraft also spotted China Coast Guard vessel CCG 5306 approximately 6.8 nautical miles south of Hubo Reef, and another China Coast Guard vessel approximately 12.7 nautical miles southwest of Hubo Reef. Two People’s Liberation Army Navy vessels were likewise monitored in the surrounding waters, one approximately 22.8 nautical miles northeast of Escoda Shoal and the other approximately 11.3 nautical miles south-southeast of Katimugan Bank.

Admiral Gavan eventually ordered the deployment of PCG vessels to the area to directly challenge Tan Suo Yi Hao and disrupt its illegal operations.

The Department of Foreign Affairs has confirmed that no request for consent was received from China for any marine scientific research to be conducted by Chinese vessel in the Philippine Exclusive Economic Zone.

“The presence of Tan Suo Yi Hao is not an isolated incident,” said the PCG.

In recent weeks, the PCG has responded to Chinese research vessel Jia Hai Ke 7operating northwest of Itbayat, Batanes, and to Chinese Maritime Militia Vessel 9622 and its 22 sampans conducting unauthorized fishing within the territorial sea of Kota Island in the Kalayaan Island Group, which the PCG repelled on October 9, 2026. Prior to these, Chinese survey vessel Haiyang Dizhi Shihao loitered off Bajo de Masinloc for nearly a month.

“These are not isolated incidents. China is orchestrating the use of fishing vessels and marine scientific research vessels in multiple areas of our maritime domain to thinly spread our operational capabilities, strain our logistics and sustainment, and pressure the Philippines toward acquiescence to a normalized, illegal, and expansive claim,” said Gavan.

“The PCG will not waver. We will execute the guidance of the President not to lose even a square inch of our territory and jurisdiction.”