…The Sierra Madre was not a particularly grand ship even in its youth. Built as a tank landing ship during World War Two, it served with the US navy in the Vietnam war. In 1970 she was transferred to the South Vietnamese navy, and after the fall of Saigon in 1975 she ended up in the Philippines. In 1999 the ageing ship was deliberately beached on top of this reef 160km (100 miles) off the Philippine coast.
As the little fishing boat drew close, large holes rusted right through the ship’s hull became visible. It looked like the next typhoon would wash her away.
Nearly 10 years on, the Sierra Madre is somehow still holding together, more rust and concrete, than steel. And a tiny contingent of Filipino marines still live a precarious existence aboard.
The actions of the Chinese coastguard ship in blocking the Philippine vessel may also breach international law. Whatever Beijing says, the waters around the rusting Sierra Madre do not belong to China.
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