The Philippine Coast Guard on Monday said the detected Chinese-flagged research vessel slowly entered 78 nautical miles northeast off Mapanas in Northern Samar.

Commodore Jay Tarriela, PCG spokesperson on the West Philippine Sea, said the research ship, “Shen Kuo”, was first spotted, through Nomad N-22 aircraft, loitering in the northeast vicinity of Viga, Catanduanes.

Tarriela said the PCG monitored the research the vessel’s movement through the Coast Guard’s automatic identification system (AIS). 

“According to the information gathered, the vessel departed from Shenzhen Port on April 13th and passed through Itbayat and Basco Batanes on April 22nd,” he noted. 

Tarriela said the vessel then proceeded southwards, coming within 11 nautical miles of the coast of Mapanas, Northern Samar on 25 April.

After that, he said, the vessel traveled north again until it reached the waters off Catanduanes, where it was sighted by the Armed Forces of the Philippines during its maritime patrol. 

It was then considered by the AFP as the vehicle of interest (VOI), which continued to loiter approximately 90 nautical miles off Baras, Catanduanes. 

“As of 6:00 pm yesterday (Sunday), the vessel is slowly moving approximately 78 nautical miles northeast off Mapanas, Northern Samar,” Tarriela said.