MANILA, March 12 -- The shallow water condition in the Ayungin Shoal is the main reason for the Philippines' use of "indigenous boats" in its rotation and reprovisioning (RORE) missions for troops manning the BRP Sierra Madre (LS-57) in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), a ranking naval official said Tuesday.

"It's only Unaizah Mae (1), a contracted civilian ship that has access to the shoal because of the shallowness of its draft," Philippine Navy (PN) spokesperson for the WPS Commodore Roy Vincent Trinidad said in a press briefing in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City.

He also clarified that the Philippine government uses a combination of Navy, Coast Guard and local government unit-operated ships for RORE missions in eight other Philippine-held ...