The U.S. Navy will construct two facilities for the repair and maintenance of Philippine patrol boats in Palawan, the western Philippine province that faces the disputed South China Sea, according to a statement from the U.S. Embassy in Manila. The projects, to be located in Oyster Bay and the municipality of Quezon, have been approved by the Philippine government and are described by the embassy as maintenance sites rather than U.S. military bases. One of the planned hubs will sit roughly 240 kilometres east of Second Thomas Shoal, where recent confrontations between Philippine and Chinese vessels have underscored rising regional tensions. Washington says the work supports a “free, open and resilient Indo-Pacific” and will be carried out in line with the U.S.–Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty, which allows rotating U.S. forces access to local bases. The facilities add to warehouses and barracks the United States has already built at nine Philippine military locations amid intensifying competition with China in the South China Sea.