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After leaving for a few days to avoid the impact of Tropical Storm Enteng (international name: Yagi) last week, Chinese vessels are sailing back to Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal.
Seven Chinese ships were on their way from Panganiban (Mischief) Reef to Panatag Shoal, 640 kilometers away from each other, to replace the vessels that “left in advance” last week due to Enteng, said Ray Powell, director of SeaLight, a maritime transparency initiative of the Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation at Stanford University.
The seven ships include six Qiong Sansha Yu maritime militia vessels and a China Coast Guard (CCG) vessel 3302, Powell said in a post on X on Sunday.
Enteng exited the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR) on Sept. 4 and moved west northwestward, according to weather bureau Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa), adding that its effects were continued to be felt on the country’s western area while it enhanced the southwest monsoon (“habagat”).
On Sunday, Pagasa reported that the southwest monsoon would continue to affect Luzon, adding that it was monitoring two low pressure areas outside PAR.
