The US Coast Guard was represented in the exercises by the cutter Stratton, which can carry up to 170 personnel, and Japan by the 6,000-tonne Asanagi.
Friday’s drills began with a simulation of a person falling overboard.
Once the dummy, wearing a bright red lifejacket, was in the water, a US drone was launched from the Stratton, circling high above as it scanned the area.
A small Philippine rescue boat then emerged from the Teresa Magbanua, zipping across the water before coast guard personnel fished the dummy out of the water.
Other rescue scenarios enacted included a Japanese helicopter racing from shore to pull a human subject from the sea.
The helicopter’s rotor blades whipped up the calm blue waters, where the occasional small hammerhead shark could be seen idly swimming alongside the Asanagi.
The exercises concluded with a simulated collision and fire, with all three coast guards blasting the stricken vessel with their water cannon.
“STRENGTHENED COORDINATION AND COOPERATION”
Japan Coast Guard official Naofumi Tsumura said the joint exercises had “built mutual understanding and trust”.
“More than anything, we have strengthened coordination and cooperation between us,” he said.
In 2024, the three countries issued a joint statement that included strong language aimed at Beijing.
“We express our serious concerns about the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) dangerous and aggressive behaviour in the South China Sea,” it said, describing “dangerous and coercive use of Coast Guard and maritime militia vessels”.
They also expressed “strong opposition to any attempts by the PRC to unilaterally change the status quo by force or coercion in the East China Sea”.
This week’s joint exercises were the first since the statement was released.
Tsumura said there were small details that could have worked better and vowed to improve in future collaborations.
He said the three countries’ coast guards had “come to understand each other better, or as the Japanese often say, to know each other by face”.
“I believe we are now able to conduct maritime rescue operations more effectively,” he said.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/east-asia/japan-us-philippines-joint-coast-guard-drills-china-tensions-5195371
