China’s Maritime Armada: Primary cause for marine disaster

The disputes in South China Sea have been highlighted adequately over last few years, wherein hegemony that China is trying to exert amongst the littorals has been a cause of concern. However, a lesser discussed fact is that China is also the largest contributor of marine pollution in the region.

In fact, as per studies, the plastic marine pollution by China is one-third of the total global marine pollution. In 2021 alone, China dumped more than 54 million tons of hazardous plastic into the oceans. In the past decade, China has been the largest decimator of ocean resources, thanks to PLA (Navy) and its surrogated maritime militia as well as dark fishing fleet.

At any given time, there are as many as 300 vessels operating in the South China Sea as part of People’s Armed Forces Maritime Militia (PAFMM), also dubbed the “Little Blue Men”. Add to this thousands of fishing vessels, many of which are involved in rampant overfishing and territory grabbing in the contested regions, we are looking at an impending environmental disaster ahead.

These vessels anchored in big groups in the shallow waters of the South China Sea have been reportedly dumping raw sewage, human waste and waste water into the sea. These actions are adversely affecting the coral reefs and also threatening fish stock and other marine species in the waters.

The reports of satellite imagery, over last half a decade, show that waste water, sewage and human faeces onto the reefs in SCS have resulted in unwarranted algae formation over the cluster of reefs and dis-balanced the marine ecosystem.

The untreated sewage from these vessels produce something called as phytoplankton. Whilst, the Phytoplankton within limits is necessary for maintaining a marine ecology, large concentration of these is a cause of concern. Many environment monitoring groups have termed this phenomenon as Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs). The HABs can produce toxins which are harmful not only for the copepods, fish and other marine species, but may also be harmful to dolphins and human.

The harmful results of bloom of phytoplankton are further multiplied when these die off. These dead phytoplankton then sink to the bottom and decompose. The bacteria that decompose these dead Phytoplankton use oxygen in plenty, thereby creating large pockets of water bodies that are low on oxygen, adversely affecting the marine life.

On 13 July, 2021, the Philippine Senator Poe had strongly condemned the actions of Chinese vessels, highlighting how they are polluting the waters in littorals and stating that China is ‘treating us as its toilets’. Despite this, there is no evident efforts from Chinese side to curb the spread of marine pollution through raw sewage and human wastage. The number of DWF fleet
has only grown over the years and these along with Maritime militia are found disturbing the ecosystem in the region.

More recently, in early June this year, PLA (Navy) oiler deployed as part of Anti-Piracy Task Force in the Gulf of Aden was reportedly observed to have spilled massive amount of oil at its overseas base at Djibouti. Whilst the news has not been substantiated, Chinese vessels are known to have perpetuated many such maritime violations in the past. The Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) addresses environmental issues under IMO’s charter. This committee lays down guidelines for Sewage Treatment Plants and effluent standards. All seagoing vessels are mandated to comply with these guidelines.

However, PLA Navy and the Chinese vessels are seldom found complying with these regulations. The Chinese Maritime Militia and Distant Water-Fishing (DWF) fleet, estimated to be more than 17,000 vessels, are the primary source of this violation and pollution in the South China Sea.

One might wonder as to why the existing guidelines of MEPC are not adhered to by the Chinese vessels in SCS. The explanation is simple. Unlike regulations ashore, MARPOL Annex IV has no compliance monitoring and no conventions for strict implementation. Further, for a country such as China, which does not believe in Rule Based Order and had openly disregarded 6 the International Tribunal’s judgement (favouring Philippines) over Scarborough shoals in 2016, it is hard to expect any adherence to guidelines promulgated by MEPC.

The issue is complex, as unlike the land, the marine environment is a unique entity. The adverse effects to marine life in one part of the globe directly or indirectly influence the marine ecosystem in other parts. The migratory species, extent of coral reefs, the dependence on biome of one region with that of other, are some of the reasons for such interdependence.

The ever-increasing number of ships and vessels and disregard to rules based order by China need to be viewed with concern. There is a need to work out enforcement protocols in future with specific emphasis on need for sewage treatment plants on-board DWF and Maritime Militia. Heavy penalties for non-adherence to MEPC guidelines may also be imposed.

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