A five-month standoff between Manila and Beijing over a disputed maritime feature in the South China Sea has entered a new phase after the Philippine Coast Guard flagship has withdrawn, according to ship spotters.

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) facilitated the kick-off celebration for the 25th National Maritime Week (NMW) and the 29th National Seafarers Day during an event held Sunday at the PCG national headquarters in Port Area,

The Philippines is sending a new vessel to replace the coast guard ship Teresa Magbanua at Sabina Shoal in the South China Sea after the original ship returned to port.

Each resupply mission is being secretly conducted as a joint military operation between the Philippines and United States.

The ship that the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) deployed to replace BRP Teresa Magbanua is now moving closer to Escoda Shoal, the National Maritime Council (NMC) said. NMC Undersecretary and spokesperson Alexander Lopez confirmed this development during a news forum in Quezon City,

The Philippines says it's withdrawn one of its key patrol vessels from waters around the disputed Sabina Shoal, where tensions have risen with China.

The Philippines will continuously deploy vessels in the contested Sabina Shoal in the South China Sea, its coast guard said on Monday after a Philippine ship returned to port after a five-month deployment there.

The Philippines insisted on Monday that it had not given up a South China Sea reef, two days after it pulled out a ship stationed there following a months-long standoff with rival claimant China.But Tarriela on Monday maintained the withdrawal from Sabina was "not a defeat",

Beijing says Manila’s actions in disputed waters ‘have seriously infringed on China’s territorial sovereignty’