The US is upgrading an operating naval base in Palawan
By: Joe M. Reyes | Published: October 9, 2025
Reading Time: 4 minutes
Puerto Princesa, Palawan – The United States said it plans to upgrade a naval base in the western Palawan island, which is crucial to the Philippines’ South China Sea operations, including resupply missions to Ayungin Shoal.
Washington has allocated 1million to 5 million dollars to construct a small boat repair and maintenance facility in Oyster Bay on the western side of Palawan island.
A senior defense department official said the Oyster Bay is home to Philippine Navy Cyclone-class patrol ships, Marine’s fast coastal fibreglass boats and other boats used to resupply BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal.
The senior defense official said the US has plans to build barracks and a facility with a portable 5-ton gantry crane to move 24-foot watercraft and other conventional boats.
It will construct two multi-purpose rooms that may be used to host conferences or store equipment, and additional work to fix Oyster Bay’s existing boat launch.
He said many of Manila’s operations in the South China Sea against Chinese claims in the region have been staged from the strategically positioned Naval Detachment Oyster Bay.
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In 2020, Manila began constructing a large pier capable of docking the Philippine Navy’s landing vessels and subsequently bolstering the service’s logistical capabilities in the South China Sea. Ammunition bunkers and several Philippine Marine Corps assault boats appeared at Oyster Bay, according to satellite imagery taken between 2022 and 2024.
The senior defense official said Oyster Bay will also be used for the training of five donated unmanned surface vessels.
Washington has supplied four T-12 MANTAS and one Devil Ray T-38 to aid the Philippine Navy’s maritime domain awareness efforts against Chinese forces in the South China Sea.
A small US Task Force Ayungin was deployed in Palawan, assigned to advise and train Manila’s maritime operations in the contested region.
The Oyster Bay project is the latest in a series of U.S.-funded defense infrastructure developments across the Philippine archipelago.
Compared to other initiatives, which traditionally fell under the framework of the 2014 Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, these projects fall outside of the nine agreed sites and are located closer to potential flashpoints in the South China Sea and Luzon Strait.
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