Big metallic debris suspected to be wreckage of China’s Long March 5B rocket were found separately off the waters of Occidental Mindoro and Palawan, authorities confirmed Wednesday, Nov. 9.
In Occidental Mindoro, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said fishermen sighted a six-meter-long, white-painted, and curve-shaped metal that was marked with a Chinese marking off the coast of Calintaan municipality last Sunday, Nov. 6. The fishermen retrieved and pulled the debris into the seashore.
Roderick Fabie, a resident of Brgy. Poblacion, Calintaan, reported the sighting to authorities the following day.
“As of press time, the identification of the said debris is still unknown. It remains at the mentioned site for inspection,” the PCG said.
Meanwhile, the Western Command (WESCOM) of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) confirmed that another debris with similar description was found floating off the waters of Busuanga, Palawan last Nov. 7.
“ said debris did not cause any casualty and does not pose any danger. At present, appropriate inter-agency action is ongoing to ensure its proper disposition,” said Maj. Cherryl Tindog, spokesperson of WESCOM.
The unusual sighting came a week after the Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) warned Filipinos to take precaution after China launched the Long March 5B rocket last Oct. 31 (Philippine time) from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan Island, saying its debris could drop either 72 km from Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough Shoal), Zambales or 39 km from Busuanga, Palawan.
The rocket carried the Mengtian laboratory module for the Tiangong space station, a research facility being built by China in orbit.
This was not the first time that debris from a Chinese rocket found its way to the Philippine shore.
In August, a rocket debris from China’s Long March (CZ-5B) booster rocket also dropped off the Mindoro Strait in Mamburao, Occidental Mindoro.