MANILA, Philippines—A Philippine official says the United States will pay P87 million ($1.9 million) for damage caused by a US Navy minesweeper that ran aground on a protected coral reef last year.
Foreign Secretary Albert F. del Rosario told a legislative hearing on Friday that the US had agreed to pay the amount. The compensation came almost two years after the USS Guardian destroyed more than 2,000 square meters of corals at the Tubbatah a Reef. The incident occurred on January 17, 2013.
The 68-meter long, 1,300-ton minesweeper USS Guardian ran aground in the Tubbataha National Marine Park and was removed two months later after being dismantled and lifted piece by piece by a crane to prevent more damage to the reef.
The reef has been designated a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization World Heritage Site. The ship’s grounding was an embarrassing event as Washington attempts to reassert its presence in Asia amid China’s rise. US officials earlier apologized to the Philippines.
An Associated Press reports last year said the minesweeper had just completed a port call in Subic Bay, a former American naval base west of the Philippine capital, when it hit the reef in the Tubbataha in the Sulu Sea, 640 kilometers southwest of Manila.
The Tubbataha Reef is one of the most biologically diverse areas in the Coral Triangle, the world’s cradle of marine life. It is off-limits to fishing and the collection of corals, wildlife and any marine life is prohibited. In 1992, US Navy ships have stepped up visits to Philippine ports for refueling, rest and recreation, and joint military exercises as a result of a redeployment of US forces in the Asia-Pacific region.
The Philippines, a US defense-treaty ally, has been entangled in a territorial dispute with China in the South China Sea.
Image credits: AP/AFP WESCOMA