Two days after the collision of two Chinese vessels, the United States deployed two of its naval ships to Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough or Panatag Shoal) in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) on Wednesday, Aug. 13, as the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) deployed an aircraft for a patrol operation, only to be intercepted by a Chinese fighter jet.

USS Higgins (DDG-76), an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, and USS Cincinnati (LCS-20), an Independence-class littoral combat ship, performed freedom of navigation and overflight patrol around Bajo de Masinloc.

The US Navy ships’ presence came after the Aug. 11 collision between China Coast Guard (CCG) ship with bow number “3104” and People’s Liberation Army-Navy (PLA-N) destroyer with tail number “164” while chasing PCG vessel BRP Suluan near the shoal.

The US vessels were tailed by a PLA-Navy ship with tail number “568”, according to PCG spokesperson for WPS, Commodore Jay Tarriela.

The movements of the US Navy ships were confirmed when the PCG, on the orders of its commandant, Admiral Ronnie Gil Gavan, deployed its Cessna Grand Caravan aircraft to conduct a maritime domain awareness (MDA) flight over Bajo de Masinloc.

Tarriela said the Coast Guard Caravan departed Manila at 7:30 a.m. “to verify the presence of Chinese maritime forces and locate the damaged China Coast Guard vessel as a result of the collision.”

“Around 8:20 a.m., the PCG Caravan monitored the presence of two US Navy ships, DDG-76 (USS Higgins) and LCS-20 (USS Cincinnati), at a distance of 102 nautical miles from Zambales. [They are] also estimated to have an approximate distance of 30 nautical miles away from Bajo de Masinloc,” he said.

“Accordingly, based on the statement provided by the US government, these two US naval vessels are conducting freedom of navigation and overflight patrol,” he added.

While the PCG Caravan was conducting its MDA flight, it was intercepted by a Chinese fighter jet that flew as near as 500 feet laterally from the PCG aircraft. “For 20 minutes, it conducted dangerous maneuvers with such distance, and even above the coast guard aircraft at an approximate height of 200 feet.”

A separate statement from China claimed it expelled USS Higgins after it “intruded” into its territorial waters surrounding Huangyan Dao, the name it calls Bajo de Masinloc.

“The navy of the PLA Southern Theater Command mobilized forces to monitor, issue warnings and expel the vessel in accordance with laws and regulations,” Senior Captain He Tiecheng, a spokesperson for the navy of the PLA Southern Theater Command, said in a statement published by Chinese media Global Times.

Four CCG vessels with bow numbers “5303”, “4202”, “3502”, and “5306” were also monitored by the PCG around Bajo de Masinloc. Tarriela noted the absence of the damaged CCG-3104 and PLA-N 164 within the vicinity of Bajo de Masinloc.

“Based on our MDA flight, it’s very difficult to tell whether they are still conducting a search and rescue over the same area where we believe that the incident happened,” Tarriela said.

Earlier, Tarriela and maritime security analyst Ray Powell said a CCG vessel and at least nine Chinese maritime militia ships conducted search patterns off Bajo de Masinloc, sparking rumors of casualties due to the collision.