A Chinese Type 052D guided-missile destroyer (hull number 164) slammed into China Coast Guard cutter 3104 on 11 August while both ships were attempting to block and chase the Philippine Coast Guard patrol boat BRP Suluan near Scarborough Shoal, according to video released by Manila. The impact, recorded about 10.5 nautical miles east of the disputed reef, crushed the forecastle of the coast-guard vessel and left it unable to sail under its own power. Philippine crews reported seeing several Chinese sailors thrown overboard and immediately offered search-and-rescue and medical assistance, but received no reply. The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs on 12 August denounced what it called “dangerous manoeuvres and unlawful interference” with a routine mission that was delivering fuel and ice to some 35 Filipino fishing boats. Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Romeo Brawner said the video suggested the destroyer had tried to ram the BRP Suluan before striking its own coast-guard cutter. Manila has lodged a diplomatic protest and urged Beijing to follow international collision-prevention rules. Beijing said its coast-guard units had taken “necessary measures” to expel Philippine vessels that it claims entered Chinese waters, without acknowledging the collision. The United States, a treaty ally of the Philippines, condemned the episode as “reckless,” while analysts noted it was the first known collision between Chinese vessels in the contested shoal and a sign of rising risk as the two nations vie for control of the South China Sea.