Manila, April 24 -- The Philippine Navy (PN) on Thursday announced that it detected the presence of two China People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) vessels off the northern coast of Luzon last April 22.

In a statement, the PN said the presence of these two ships were spotted with the help of its "intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities."

The PLAN vessels were seen operating in separate locations, it added.

In a message to the Philippine News Agency, PN spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea Rear Adm. Roy Vincent Trinidad said the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong was first detected at about 3 a.m., some 101.3 nautical miles (NM) off Burgos, Ilocos Norte.

At about 9:36 a.m., the vessel was spotted at about 2.23 nau...