The China ship that crisscrossed Benham Rise for months studied not just the undersea plateau within Manila’s authority. It also proceeded to the waters off Samar and Siargao Island, apparently in search of submarine passage to the Pacific. This means the issue is not just of maritime rights, but of national security, experts say. The vessel was identified as "Xiang Yang Hong-03" in the Mandarin-language China Ocean Newsletter. With 60 crewmen it was dispatched on a "national special task." Unspecified seabed sediment and deep-water samples were taken in the 13 million-hectare extension of the Philippine continental shelf.

Bondoc, J. (2017, April 3). Chinese vessel identified; Benham mission bared. Philippine Star, pp. 13, 14.