MANILA — The Philippine Coast Guard on Friday said it has successfully tracked the movement of China’s monster ship.

Commodore Jay Tarriela, PCG spokesperson for West Philippine Sea, said the Philippines was able to track the movements of the Chinese Coast Guard’s 165-meter ship CCG-5901, using Canada’s Dark Vessel Detection technology.

Using Canada's Dark Vessel Detection technology, the Philippine Coast Guard was able to successfully track the movements of the Chinese Coast Guard's 165-meter monster ship, CCG-5901.

On July 1st, the ship departed from Hainan and entered the Philippines' Exclusive Economic… pic.twitter.com/29OFMnVh0X

— Jay Tarriela (@jaytaryela) July 5, 2024

China’s massive vessel, dubbed “The Monster”, returned to Philippine waters on Wednesday.

“For over two consecutive days, the Chinese Coast Guard ship has been anchored at Escoda Shoal, maintaining a close proximity to BRP Teresa Magbanua. The distance between the two vessels is less than 800 yards, with the Chinese ship positioned on the starboard beam of the PCG vessel,” Tarriela said.

The vessel’s presence in the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone comes in the wake of the 9th meeting of Bilateral Consultation Mechanism on the South China Sea on Tuesday.

“Both sides agreed that continued dialogue on the basis of mutual respect as two equal sovereign states facilitates peace and stability at sea, and committed to having the 10th BCM in China to sustain the positive momentum of discussions,” the Department of Foreign Affair said in a statement following a “frank and constructive discussions” on the situation in the South China Sea.

China’s monster ship holds ‘intrusive patrol’ in PH waters despite talks: analyst