Post by EXO on May 25, 2023 9:34:18 GMT 8
April 29, 2023:
CCP built and CCP controlled dredgers off Corregidor Island - Dredging by rogue Chinese operators has become resource theft and environmental banditry.
Two foreign ships collided in the waters off Corregidor Island, leaving at least two people dead and three others missing, said the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on Saturday.
“The [PCG] responds to a collision between MV Hong Hai 189 and MT Petite Soeur at the vicinity waters off Corregidor Island yesterday, 28 April 2023,” said the Philippine Coast Guard in a statement.
The MV Hong Hai 189 had 20 crew members, with 16 of them rescued. However, one of them, a Filipino crew member, would later die in the hospital after his rescue.
The other casualty was a Chinese seaman, whose body was recovered at sea, said the PCG.
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CCP built and CCP controlled dredgers off Corregidor Island - Dredging by rogue Chinese operators has become resource theft and environmental banditry.
Two foreign ships collided in the waters off Corregidor Island, leaving at least two people dead and three others missing, said the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on Saturday.
“The [PCG] responds to a collision between MV Hong Hai 189 and MT Petite Soeur at the vicinity waters off Corregidor Island yesterday, 28 April 2023,” said the Philippine Coast Guard in a statement.
The MV Hong Hai 189 had 20 crew members, with 16 of them rescued. However, one of them, a Filipino crew member, would later die in the hospital after his rescue.
The other casualty was a Chinese seaman, whose body was recovered at sea, said the PCG.
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Further research indicates that MV Hong Hai 189 is a Gross 11,505 tonnage Hopper DREDGER, built 2017 and registered in the Flag of Convenience jurisdiction, Sierra Leone. It was last ported in Botolan, Zambales. The MT Petite Soeur was a chemical oil tanker, and is under the flag of the Marshall Islands. It had last docked in Mariveles, Bataan.
Hong Hai 189 was inbound and Petite Soeur had just gotten under way from a petroleum terminal north of the island. The two collided at a speed of about six knots, and Hong Hai 189 capsized shortly after. Three crewmembers died and two went missing; 15 survived. No injuries or casualties were reported aboard Petite Souer. On May 6, more than a week after the capsizing, Hong Hai 189 finally sank off Mariveles, Bataan, where she had been relocated after the casualty.
On a clear day, up to hundreds of Chinese dredging ships illegally mining for sand can be spotted from Taiwan’s Matsu Islands. The vast scale and scope of Chinese illegal dredging has made it a multinational issue. Illegal Chinese vessels have not been limited to waters near Matsu. Earlier this year, environmental groups decried illegal Chinese sand mining in the Formosa Banks, an ocean shoal area situated in the southern portion of the Taiwan Strait. Environmentalists have called on Taiwanese authorities to clamp down on the dredgers, which reportedly draw up to 100,000 tons of sand daily, endangering maritime resources and causing catastrophic consequences to marine ecology. Other offshore island counties such as Kinmen and Penghu have also witnessed a large increase in Chinese dredgers throughout neighboring waters. Dredging activities, which pump up large amounts of both sand and water to the ships, can cause a vast impact to the maritime environment. As dredging lifts material from the seabed, benthic organisms – marine life that live on or near the seabed – get suctioned in as well, littering the mined sand with broken shells and carcasses. In addition to negatively affecting the marine food chain, seabed habitats are largely destroyed in the process.
On a regional level, ultimately, the international community needs to demand China to take more responsibility in containing environmentally harmful activities. Dredging in the South China Sea has sparked more international discussion, particularly for its role in constructing artificial islands for military use. The Philippines is wary of illegal Chinese dredgers involved in “black sand mining” on its northern coast, as well as possible land reclamation plans for Scarborough Shoal; meanwhile, the United States has also hinted at sanctions on Chinese companies involved in land reclamation and dredging in the South China Sea. Along with military-related projects, Chinese dredging involves actors from many sectors, ranging from state-owned companies involved in government infrastructure projects to private development. As with many issues related to China, the line between public and private can often be hard to draw and additional information is needed to present a more comprehensive picture on the massive dredging industry.