The Philippine and China coast guards conducted its first maritime exercise in Manila Bay Wednesday.

Capt. Armand Balilo, PCG spokesman, said the joint maritime drills on search and rescue and combating fire at sea were participated by CCG vessel 5204 and a 44-meter multi-role response vessel BRP Tubbataha of the PCG.

"The activity allowed PCG and CCG to exercise interoperability and strengthen their capabilities in responding to such crises," he said.

The exercise was participated by 120 China Coast Guard personnel and 148 members of the Philippine Coast Guard.

Balilo said the exercise scenario is about "a distress report that a vessel was caught on fire on its cargo hold while transiting the waters of Manila."

"PCG monitored a 102-meter CCG vessel with bow number 5204 thru Vessel Traffic Management System in Manila and coordinated through the established hotline of communication between PCG and CCG," he said referring to the exercise scenario

"To render immediate assistance, PCG deployed its 44-meter multi-role response vessel (MRRV) 4401 and BRP Tubbataha, while CCG dispatched Vessel 5204. These assets are equipped with water cannons used in firefighting assistance," said Balilo.

"Onboard the distressed vessel were five passengers and eight Filipino crew. As a prompt action, rigid hull inflatable boats of deployed vessels were launched with rescue swimmers to aid the victims," he added.

Balilo said "the rescued individuals were transferred to MRRV 4401 with a medical team onboard for medical assessment and treatment", while "the troubled vessel was declared fire out, with no casualties recorded."

The joint maritime drills is part of the week-long activities of CCG’s port call in Manila from Jan. 14 to 17, 2020.

Balilo said the port visit aims to "strengthen understanding, mutual trust, and cooperation between PCG and CCG towards the promotion of maritime security and maritime law enforcement in the West Philippine Sea." Robina Asido/DMS