We've looked at this vessel a few times, pointing out that it is larger than American cruisers, typically a navy's category for their second largest ships. This ain't your Grandfather's coast guard cutter.
From Radio Free Asia, January 2:
The world’s largest coast guard ship arrived at the disputed area as China’s navy holds drills to exert air control.
The world’s largest coast guard vessel, a Chinese ship known as “The Monster,” has arrived at the disputed Scarborough Shoal inside the Philippine exclusive economic zone to boost Beijing’s control over the maritime area, an American analyst said.
Meanwhile, the Chinese navy has been conducting a New Year carrier-based helicopter training exercise in the airspace over the South China Sea, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
The 12,000-ton CCG 5901 arrived at Scarborough Shoal on Wednesday, said Ray Powell, director of the SeaLight project at Stanford University, who tracks the ship’s movements.
There are at least three other Chinese coast guard ships - CCG 3106, 3302 and 3305 – as well as seven militia ships, already present at the shoal, Powell told Radio Free Asia.
The aim of their mission is to boost Beijing’s control over the maritime area just 125 nautical miles (232 kilometers) from the main Philippine island of Luzon, he said....
....MUCH MORE
Also at Radio Free Asia, January 3:
South China Sea: 5 things to watch in 2025
The waterway is expected to stay turbulent through the new year; we explore possible flashpoints.
....Vietnam’s island building
Vietnam’s island building in the South China Sea has reached a record, with the total area created in the first six months of 2024 equaling that of 2022 and 2023 combined, according to a study by the Washington-based Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI).
Between November 2023 and June 2024, Hanoi created 692 new acres (280 ha) of land across a total of 10 features in the Spratly archipelago. Vietnam’s overall dredging and landfill totaled about 2,360 acres (955 ha), roughly half of China’s 4,650 acres (1,881.7 ha).
“Three years from when it first began, Vietnam is still surprising observers with the ever-increasing scope of its dredging and landfill in the Spratly Islands,” AMTI said.
Vietnam occupies 27 features and has been carrying out large-scale reclamation works on some over the past year....
....MUCH MORE
