BFAR vessel hit by China Coast Guard ship

MANILA, Philippines - A China Coast Guard (CCG) vessel "intentionally rammed" a ship of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) about 54 nautical miles off the coast of Palawan on Friday, the Philippine Coast Guard said.

PCG spokesman for the West Philippine Sea Rear Admiral Jay Tarriela said the CCG vessel struck the BRP Datu Magat Salamat at around 11 a.m. while the Philippine vessel was conducting a fisherfolk assistance mission.

"It was not a collision. It was an intentional ramming done by the CCG-21585," Tarriela said.

Tarriela said the BFAR vessel was carrying out a mission to provide fuel subsidies and food packs to Filipino fishermen in the Kalayaan Island Group following weeks of monsoon rains.

"The objective of the BFAR deployment is purely humanitarian. It is not conducting operations that provoked anybody or any state," he said.