Clear blue sea turned to troubled waters

Ren'ai Reef

In May 1999, the No 57 tank landing ship of the Philippine Navy was grounded on China's Ren'ai Reef, which is 9.3 miles long and 3.5 miles wide, under the guise of "mechanical dysfunction". In response to China's protest, the Philippines promised it would soon tow the ship away and vowed it did not intend to build any facility on the reef.

The Philippines went back on its word, and the ship has been there for nearly two decades. It refuses to tow away the "grounded" ship, citing a "shortage of certain components". Moreover, it tried to carry out repairs to the ship.