US nuke sub docks at Subic

THE United States’ Los Angeles-class USS Louisville (SSN 724), a nuclear-powered fast attack submarine, on Monday docked at Subic Bay, the second submarine to arrive in the bay in over a month since the docking there of the Virginia-class USS North Carolina (SSN 777).

The submarine’s arrival again announced the United States’ increasing presence in the Pacific following China’s flexing of its naval muscles there and the continuing disputes in the South China Sea among the countries claiming parts of the area.

The US Embassy in Manila said the submarine was in the country “for a routine port call,” and that part of its visit was to replenish supplies and give the crew an opportunity to rest.

Philippine Navy spokesman Col. Omar Tonsay said the submarine will stay in the country from June 25 to June 30.

“The submarine has no mission or whatsoever in coming to the Philippines except replenishment of supplies and may be rest for the crew,” Tonsay said.

The US Navy website says the Louisville was commissioned on Nov. 8, 1986, and that it is one of the most advanced attack submarines in the world. Its mission is to seek out and destroy enemy ships and submarines.

The sub is 360 feet long and weighs 6,900 tons. It is armed with sophisticated MK48 torpedoes and Tomahawk cruise missiles.

“USS Louisville is the fourth United States ship to bear the name in honor of the city of Louisville, Kentucky,” the US Embassy said in a statement.

The Louisville has primarily operated out of San Diego, California, and Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.

On May 13 the US Pacific Command sent the USS North Carolina (SSN 777) to the Philippines and docked at Subic bay for a five-day visit.

The submarine has a total crew of 133, and is  home-ported in Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. It was commissioned in 2008.

The submarine is more than 350 feet long and weighs more than 7,800 tons when submerged. It is one of the stealthiest, most technologically advanced submarines in the world.

Meanwhile, officials in Manila said Monday that China had withdrawn its boats from the lagoon of a tiny South China Sea shoal following an agreement with the Philippines that at least temporarily eased the countries’ territorial dispute.

The Philippine government pulled out its two vessels from Scarborough Shoal on June 15, and President Benigno Aquino III last week threatened to send them back unless China also withdrew.

Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said he had received information that all boats had left the shoal’s lagoon as of Saturday. He said earlier that China and the Philippines had reached a verbal agreement to pull out from the lagoon but not the wider vicinity of the shoal, where Chinese vessels apparently remained.

Both countries claim the shoal. Tensions flared in April when the Philippines accused Chinese fishermen of poaching within its exclusive economic zone, which includes the shoal. China responded by sending paramilitary vessels to protect the fishermen.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said at a regular briefing in Beijing that the situation at the Huangyan Islands—the Chinese name for Scarborough Shoal—”is overall toward peace.”

He did not comment on the Philippines’ statement that Chinese vessels had withdrawn from the lagoon. He said that Chinese vessels “have been running the … islands and the nearby waters and standing on alert.”

The horseshoe-shaped shoal, a popular hunting ground for Filipino and Chinese fishermen, is one of the hundreds of tiny outcrops and islands dotting the South China Sea, one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes and an area believed to be rich in natural gas and oil.

China, the Philippines, Taiwan, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam claim the nearby Spratly Islands, where disputes have occasionally triggered naval clashes. A non-binding 2002 accord discourages aggressive acts that could spark fighting.-Manila Standard Today (June 26, 2012)