By Priam Nepomuceno | Philippine News Agency
A ranking Philippine Navy (PN) official on Tuesday said the Russian diesel electric submarine was likely in the process of recharging its batteries or refueling when it was spotted in the West Philippine Sea last Nov. 28.
In a press briefing in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City, PN spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea (WPS) Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad said this was a possible scenario as a rescue tug and support vessel was seen eight to 10 nautical miles away from the Russian submarine.
“In the vicinity, within eight to 10 nautical miles were two other surface support vessels, a rescue tug and a support vessel. The support vessel mentioned that they were there to refuel the submarine,” he said.
The attack submarine identified as “UFA 490”, a part of the Improved Kilo II-class diesel electric attack submarines produced by Russia, was spotted some 80 nautical miles west off Cape Calavite, Occidental Mindoro.
Trinidad also said the Russian submarine was spotted by the Western Command using its intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities.
“Because of this, we had to send out maritime patrol aircraft and a frigate for visual confirmation. We challenged the submarine and they responded appropriately. They mentioned that they came from Kota Kinabalu (Malaysia) for an exercise with the Royal Malaysian Navy and were headed to Vladivostok, Russia,” he added.
On Monday, the Armed Forces of the Philippines said the Russian submarine was waiting for good weather before proceeding to its base in Vladivostok, Russia which is estimated at 2,200 miles (3540.56 km).
“While it is true that submarines are designed to travel not only on the surface but also submerged—and when submerged, they have less effects on the weather—the context of the situation is most likely they were there to receive fuel, to charge their batteries in as much as a Kilo is a diesel-electric submarine, or probably to do some minor repairs for whatever derangement they incurred,” Trinidad said.
First time
Meanwhile, the PN official said this is the first time a Russian submarine was detected in the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and they were alarmed by this.
“The alarm was on the first instance of detecting a submarine. It’s not every day that you detect a submarine in your EEZ. It is understandable that even our men monitoring our sensors were surprised why there was a submarine. This necessitated the sending of aircraft and a frigate (missile frigate BRP Jose Rizal [FF-150]) to do visual confirmation,” he added.
Trinidad said that under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, submarines or ships need not seek permission from the coastal state when transiting the EEZ of that state.
“The diesel-electric submarine would require every now and then to surface either periscope depth to charge their batteries or to receive supplies, fuel, or to repair any minor derangements. It could also be seen as a signaling to show that we are here. But for the context of the situation, it was more to receive fuel or supplies or to do some minor derangement repairs,” he added.