Philippine Navy transport vessel nearly collides with Chinese warship

The Western Command called the incident “provocative”, accusing Beijing of violating international maritime protocols and putting Filipino lives at risk.

The AFP Western Command said the Chinese frigate executed “unsafe and unprofessional maneuvers” as it passed close to BRP Benguet while it was conducting routine missions near Pag-asa Island in the West Philippine Sea on Wednesday, March 25, 2026. Photo from AFP Western Command.

Manuel Mogato | March 27, 2028

Manila — A Navy World War II vintage transport vessel has avoided colliding with a Chinese Navy frigate near a Philippine-occupied feature in the West Philippine Sea in what could be the latest provocation from China.

A Philippine Navy transport vessel, BRP Benguet, an old Landing Ship Tank (LST) built in the 1940s, was on a “routine maritime operations” near Pagasa Island in the South China Sea when a Chinese guided-missile frigate “executed an unsafe and unprofessional maneuver by closing in and passing at a dangerously close distance”, the Armed Forces Western Command said in a statement.

“Such dangerous maneuvers are provocative and constitute a clear violation of the Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea,” the Western Command statement said.

The Western Command called the incident “provocative”, accusing Beijing of violating international maritime protocols and putting Filipino lives at risk.

The Western Command said BRP Benguet had “successfully avoided a potential collision” by its “measured and decisive actions.”

BRP Benguet also “effectively prevented escalation while ensuring the safety of all personnel on board.”

“The Western Command calls on the PLA Navy to adhere to established international rules and norms to prevent incidents at sea,” Vice Admiral Alfonso Torres, the Western Command chief, said.

“China must immediately halt these unsafe actions and conduct themselves in a professional manner by adhering to international law.”

Torres said it will continue to perform its operations “professionalism and resolve in exercising the country’s sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction in the West Philippine Sea.”

This was the second time BRP Bensurto was harassed by a Chinese vessel.

In October 2023, a Chinese warship had also executed dangerous maneuvers near Pag-asa Island.