Two Chinese research vessels were monitored within the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) disclosed.

In a press conference, PCG spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea (WPS) Commodore Jay Tarriela identified the Chinese ships as Xiang Yang Hong 302 and Tan Suo Er Hao.

Xiang Yang Hong 302 departed Hainan in China last May 1 and was located 180 nautical miles off the coast of Rizal, Palawan. Tan Suo Er Hao departed Hainan on May 8 and was located 130.5 nautical miles from Burgos, Ilocos Norte, according to Tarriela.

“Xiang Yang Hong 302 research vessel is under the administration of the State Oceanic Administration. It is intended for use by the [People’s Liberation Army Navy of China] for oceanography. It has an overall length of 100 meters and 4,500 tons,” Tarriela said.

“The capability of this Chinese research vessel is to conduct deep sea surveying. This is the reason why it is also equipped with remotely operated vehicles and private underwater drones,” he added.

“Tan Suo Er Hao research vessel is under the administration of China Ocean Mineral Resources Research and Development Association (COMRA) and it is manned by the Institute of Deep-sea Science and Engineering,” Tarriel added.

“It has the capability of also the same with the Xiang Yang Hong 302. It has the capability for deep sea research capability,” he added.

PCG chief Admiral Ronnie Gil Gavan has deployed an aircraft conducting maritime domain awareness flight to monitor Tan Suo Er Hao.

Aside from the two Chinese vessels, Tarriela said Zhong Shan Da Xue was also monitored within the Philippines’ EEZ but returned to Guangdong at 9:56 a.m. on Tuesday.

“As early as March 31, it departed Guangdong province. It spent a considerable large number of conducting marine scientific research up north within the EEZ of the Philippines and sometimes crossing also the Taiwan Strait. It only returned to Guangdong province May 20,” Tarriela said.

Tarriela said Zhong Shan Da Xue is owned and operated by Sun Yat-sen University.

“Probably the Chinese government can also reason that it is purely for scientific and civilian use. But there are also reports that the scientific findings of this research vessel is also being forwarded to the PLA Navy for whatever reasons that they can make use of those data,” he added.