The latest track of China Coast Guard’s monster ship as of 9:21 a.m. It passed through inside the waters off Scarborough (Shoal) as of 7:00 a.m., according to West Philippine Sea monitor Ray Powell.

MANILA — The biggest China Coast Guard (CCG) vessel, dubbed the “monster ship,” left the general vicinity of El Nido, Palawan, and passed through the waters of Scarborough (Panatag) Shoal on Wednesday morning, according to a West Philippine Sea monitor.

As of 7:00 a.m., SeaLight director Ray Powell said on X (formerly Twitter) that the CCG ship with bow number 5901 traversed only about one to two kilometers away from the shoal.

Powell said Panatag Shoal is the final leg of the “intrusive patrol of Beijing’s enormous 12,000-ton ship inside Manila’s exclusive economic zone.”

On Tuesday, the giant ship was spotted near El Nido town, sending shockwaves across social media platforms like Facebook.

As of 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, INQUIRER.net’s report about the incident alone already garnered over 16,000 reactions and more than 4,800 shares, with thousands of comments expressing alarm over the incident.

However, while the CCG’s flagship vessel is indeed near El Nido, Palawan, it should be noted that it was spotted about 40 nautical miles away from its shores, still outside the coastal town’s 12-nautical mile territorial sea. The territorial sea is treated as a red line that, once crossed by Beijing, may pose a direct threat to Manila’s sovereignty.

Powell also told INQUIRER.net that the ship did not stay long near El Nido town: “It passed by. It didn’t loiter.”

Prior to this, the CCG giant ship passed by several maritime features of the Kalayaan Island Group (KIG) and other Spratly Islands features, according to Powell.

Before approaching near El Nido, Powell previously said the CCG ship was spotted near Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal on Monday morning and Escoda (Sabina) Shoal on Monday afternoon.

Sabina Shoal, a low-tide feature guarded by the biggest Philippine Coast Guard’s (PCG) ship since April, also serves as the rendezvous point for Manila’s boats carrying out resupply missions to naval troops stationed at the BRP Sierra Madre.

Powell also said the biggest CCG ship was spotted off Malaysia’s Luconia Shoal in Spratly Islands.

Maritime features in the Spratly Islands occupied by Manila are collectively known as the KIG.

Beijing asserts sovereignty in almost the entire South China Sea, including most of the West Philippine Sea, even if such a claim has been effectively invalidated by the arbitral award issued in July 2016.

The landmark ruling stemmed from a case filed by Manila in 2013, a year after its tense standoff with Beijing over Panatag Shoal, whose lagoon the latter now effectively controls.

Since seizing the shoal’s control in 2012, PCG said at least four CCG vessels maintain a permanent presence there: two inside the triangle-shaped atoll and two others outside.

However, Powell said the “monster ship” does not appear to stop by to conduct resupply for the four CCG vessels.

 “It didn’t seem to stop,” Powell said. “It was just on an intimidation circuit of the region to send a message of the People’s Republic of China’s dominance.”

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