PCG: China harassed PH vessel with high-decibel acoustic device

China blasts high-decibel acoustic device to harass PH vessel, the Philippine Coast Guard said. Screenshot from PCG video/XMANILA — For the first time, China used an Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD) to harass Philippine vessels in the West Philippine Sea, the Philippine Coast Guard said late Saturday.

China has typically used water cannons and "dangerous maneuvers" to intimidate Philippine vessels in the West Philippine Sea but has used LRADs in the past.

LRADs are specialized loudspeakers that can emit sound at a high enough volume to cause damage to eardrums as well as permanent hearing loss. 

They are commonly used by law enforcement agencies, including the Philippine National Police, for crowd control at protests.

In a statement, Commodore Jay Tarriela, PCG spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, said a China Coast Guard vessel with hull number 3103 used an LRAD to harass BRP Cabra (MRRV-4409) and to deter its approach.

Tarriela noted that CCG-3103 relieved CCG-3304 on Saturday afternoon to maintain China's illegal patrol in the area, saying it appeared to be escorted by CCG-5901, also known as the Chinese monster ship.

PCG crew members described China's acoustic device "as producing high decibel levels that can be painful and damaging to hearing," he said.

"Despite the harassment and the intimidating presence of the Chinese monster ship, BRP Cabra remains committed to its mission," he said.

The PCG "continues to uphold its mandate of safeguarding the nation's maritime jurisdiction while striving to avoid provocation and escalation," said Tarriela.

Tarriela meanwhile said BRP Cabra continued its efforts to prevent China Coast Guard vessels from approaching the coastline of Zambales.

"Currently, the China Coast Guard has been pushed back to a position between 90 and 95 nautical miles from the shore," he said, adding that BRP Cabra shadowed the CCG at close distances.

It also conducted hourly radio challenges to assert that the Chinese presence violates the Philippine Maritime Zones Act, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and the 2016 arbitral award that invalidated Beijing's vast claims in the South China Sea.

On Friday, the Chinese Coast Guard and People's Liberation Army Navy harassed a Philippine research mission to Sandy Cays near Pag-asa Island in the West Philippine Sea.

In a release, the PCG said BRP Datu Pagbuaya (MMOV-3003) and Datu Bankaw (MMOV-3004) of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources were headed to Sandy Cays for a marine scientific survey and sand sampling when they "encountered aggressive maneuvers" by China Coast Guard vessels with hull numbers 4106, 5103 and 4202.

PCG reports Chinese harassment of scientific survey mission at Sandy Cays