Multiple Chinese warships track Canadian HMCS Ottawa through the South China Sea

CTV National News is on board HMCS Ottawa, with correspondent Adrian Ghobrial embedded with Canadian Navy personnel and documenting their work in the South China – a region where China is increasingly flexing its maritime muscle. This is the third in a series of dispatches from the ship.

It’s Day four at sea onboard HMCS Ottawa. As the Halifax-class frigate crosses into the South China Sea, a familiar presence begins to shadow the Royal Canadian Navy.

At first, one, then two Peoples Liberation Army Navy ships began following HMCS Ottawa shortly after midnight.

The silhouettes of a hulking Chinese Navy destroyer dubbed “Changsha” and a warship called the “Yuncheng” can been seen hovering along the horizon, mirroring HMCS Ottawa’s movements.

The looming presence of China’s Navy comes as no surprise. Over the last decade, Beijing has built airstrips on top of reefs in the South China Sea and militarized nearby islands with cruise missile and radar systems.

The stakes are high. One-third of all global shipping passes through these waters. Below the sea floor, at least 11-billion barrels of untapped oil is said to sit in reserve.

China has claimed ownership of nearly the entire South China Sea even though an international court in 2016 ruled its claim to be invalid.

On this day, HMCS Ottawa is passing near an area known as the Scarbrough Shoal, both China and the Philippines have staked their claim on the Shoal, which is within the Philippines exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

As HMCS Ottawa tracks closer to the equator, the temperature is rising in step with the tension now on display in the open sea.

Before the lunch hour, Navigating Officer, Lieutenant Travis Verbeek and the Ottawa crew, spot a Chinese Coast Guard Ship, appearing to close in on a coast guard vessel from the Philippines.

This is playing out while two Chinese Navy ships continue to follow HMCS Ottawa. Then the coast guard ship from the Philippines puts out a call on the open radio, demanding the Chinese Navy notify them of their intentions, this is after all, internationally recognized as within the Philippines EEZ.

Verbeek offers CTV National News a play-by-play. Saying “The Philippine coast guard vessel was calling the Chinese warships PLA 571 and they were reminding them of their obligations under the United Nations Convention of the laws of the sea, reminding them they’re a signatory to this convention and asking them to clarify their intentions within Philippine waters.”

The calls go unanswered by the Chinese Navy. Recent months have seen an escalation in clashes between Chinese and Philippine Coast Guards, from axe swinging, knife wielding fights at sea. Watercannons have also been deployed and the Philippines has blamed Chinese ships for ramming their boats.

The heightened tension is one of the reasons HMCS Ottawa is here on an operation to promote rules-based order on the open waters.