An unlikely nautical relic of World War II, the BRP Sierra Madre, sits hard aground on Second Thomas Shoal, an atoll in the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. Manned by a handful of Philippine marines, the rusting hulk serves as an isolated outpost defending Philippine sovereignty in highly contested waters.
Recently, two ships carrying supplies, escorted by two coast guard ships, delivered fresh provisions to the Sierra Madre, breaking a blockade by the Chinese coast guard. Two weeks prior, the Chinese prevented a previous Philippine supply mission from reaching the ship by firing water cannon at the supply ships. The Chinese have also been accused of using a “military grade” laser light on a Philippine coast guard boat in past encounters.
The 100 meter-long BRP Sierra Madre, originally the USS LST-821, then the USS Harnett County, was a tank-landing ship built for the U.S. Navy during World War II. It also served in the Vietnam War and was transferred to the Philippines in 1976 and renamed for a third time.
The dispute over the Second Thomas Shoal is part of a larger and longstanding conflict in the resource-rich waters, involving China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei. The South China Sea is a rich fishing ground that is believed to hold vast oil and gas reserves.
The Chinese claim roughly 80% of all maritime and territorial areas in the South China Sea, a claim flatly rejected by a United Nations Law of the Sea Convention Tribunal in 2016 that ruled unanimously that China’s claim had no basis in international law.
The Second Thomas Shoal lies 105 nautical miles west of the Philippine island province of Palawan – well within the Philippines’ 200 nautical-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
The Sierra Madre ran aground on Second Thomas Shoal in 1999. Some say it was an accident but Manila claims the ship “was placed to serve as a permanent Philippine government installation in response to China’s illegal occupation of Mischief Reef in 1995.” Mischief Reef, 25 miles away from Second Thomas Shoal, is another Spratly Islands feature inside the Philippine EEZ.
In 2014, China begun a massive land reclamation project on Mischief Reef. The world’s largest ocean-going dredgers were pumping millions of tons of gravel and sand on to the top of the reef creating a huge artificial island.
The new island is not recognized by international law. It does not give China the right to 20 km (12 mile) territorial waters. But that has not stopped Beijing from using its large coastguard and maritime militia fleet, to attempt to enforce its claims, and to drive away Philippine fishermen and challenge Philippine coast guard vessels.