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Philippine Coast Guard Finds Illegal Chinese Crew on Local Dredger

Chinese crew on dredger
Courtesy PCG

Published Nov 27, 2024 11:31 PM by The Maritime Executive

 

On Tuesday, the Philippine Coast Guard boarded a domestic dredging vessel at an anchorage near Manila and discovered that a large share of the crew were undocumented Chinese nationals - four of whom attempted to hide from the authorities during the inspection. 

At about noon on Tuesday, the shipping agent for the Philippine-flagged dredger Harvest 89 (IMO 8591457) contacted the Philippine Coast Guard to notify the PCG of the vessel's planned departure. The ship was bound for San Felipe, Zambales for a domestic dredging contract. A vessel named Harvest 89 does not exist in international shipping databases, but the IMO number corresponds to the aggregates carrier Mao Hua 8, owned by Oromarine Shipping. The vessel was originally Chinese-registered, and was flagged into the Philippine registry in 2022.

When the PCG attempted to board the vessel for a pre-departure inspection, the agent attempted to prevent the officers from boarding. He allegedly told them that the ship's paperwork was correct and that there was no need to come aboard. In response, the PCG station decided to carry out a full inspection of the ship.  

The boarding team found nine undocumented Chinese crew members, all without proper papers. The vessel's crew manifest named only eight Filipino crew members. Philippine cabotage laws require that all crewmembers on vessels in domestic trade - like Harvest 89 - must be Philippine nationals. 

During a follow-up inspection, PCG officers found four more undocumented Chinese nationals who were trying to hide on board, bringing the total to thirteen. They also found one military-style uniform in a digital camouflage pattern, similar to People's Liberation Army fatigues. For the PCG, which faces off with Chinese forces in the South China Sea every day, the uniform raised "significant concerns regarding the intentions of these undocumented individuals."

Image courtesy PCG

The agency released the names and birthdates of every undocumented Chinese crewmember on board, and said it is working on options for legal action and detention of the unauthorized foreign crewmembers. 

"We will continue our vigilant inspections and take necessary actions to address any violations of maritime laws," said PCG spokesman Jay Tarriela in a statement. 

On the same day as the inspection on Harvest 89, shipowner Oromarine posted an "urgent" job recruitment notice on its Facebook page, seeking officers for a dredging vessel / sand carrier of about the same size. The firm says that it is in need of a new master, chief mate, second mate, second engineer and third engineer for the vessel.