The Philippines has approved a United States proposal to construct a boat maintenance facility in Western Palawan, a strategic location near the disputed West Philippine Sea.

In a statement on Wednesday, the US Embassy in Manila said the US Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command issued a public solicitation on 7 July for the design and construction of a new boat maintenance facility at the Naval Detachment Oyster Bay.

“The facility will provide repair and maintenance capabilities for several small Philippine military watercraft and will include two multi-purpose interior rooms suitable for equipment storage or conference use,” the embassy said. 

The embassy clarified, however, that the boat maintenance facility is “not a military base.”

The US embassy said the project is approved by the government of the Philippines “in accordance with all applicable US and Philippine local rules and regulation.”

“Our US Philippine alliance with its roots in the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty remains a cornerstone of peace and security, promoting our common vision for a free, open, and resilient Indo-Pacific,” it said. 

“All of our military activities in the Philippines are done in full coordination with our Philippine allies,” it added.

The Naval Detachment Oyster Bay hosts patrol ships, fast attack boats, including vessels dedicated to the country’s resupply missions to military outposts in the West Philippine Sea.

The development came as tensions between the Philippines and China increased due to their overlapping claims in the West Philippine Sea, a portion of the South China Sea.

China claims the vast South China Sea, including the West Philippine Sea.

In 2016, the Philippines won a landmark arbitration case against China before the Permanent Court of Arbitration. The ruling invalidated China's expansive claims in the South China Sea. China, however, has rejected the award, calling it “illegal, null and void.”