President Marcos orders PCG to inspect all Manila Bay dredgers

The Philippines President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has ordered the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) to board and inspect all dredgers operating in Manila Bay reclamation projects amid renewed concerns over vessel identity, ownership and compliance with Philippine laws.

“The President orders the PCG to board all the dredgers operating in Manila Bay as part of the reclamation project and inspect their vessel registration and AIS (automatic identification system) AIS transmission,” Palace Press Officer, Claire Castro, said.

The directive comes days after a maritime security analyst flagged a Chinese-origin dredger allegedly broadcasting multiple identities while operating in Philippine waters, the Philippine News Agency (PNA) reports.

In an article published yesterday, Ray Powell, director of maritime intelligence group SeaLight, reported that the dredger Kang Ling 539 has transmitted at least 30 different vessel identities while shuttling between Manila Bay and a dredging site in Zambales for more than two years.

According to the report, the dredger has operated under at least six different flag states, including the Philippines, Sierra Leone, China, São Tomé and Príncipe and Panama, raising red flags over possible violations of maritime and domestic regulations.

Under Philippine law, dredgers transporting sand between Philippine points must be at least 60 percent Filipino-owned, Philippine-flagged and registered, and crewed by Filipino nationals.

Foreign-owned or foreign-flagged vessels are prohibited from undertaking dredging operations unless they are reflagged and placed under qualified domestic ownership, PNA concluded.