The main contingent of the Filipino convoy, comprising four wooden-hulled fishing boats and a coast guard escort, was about 108km southeast of Scarborough Shoal at 6am.
The convoy was also being tracked by a nearby China Coast Guard vessel, the Philippine Coast Guard said.
The shadowing began at dusk on Wednesday as the boats moved closer to the shoal, with the Chinese vessels issuing warnings that the participants heard on their radios.
The Chinese foreign ministry had warned the convoy on Wednesday against any attempt to infringe on Beijing’s “indisputable sovereignty” over Scarborough Shoal.
POTENTIAL FLASHPOINT
The fish-rich reef has been a potential flashpoint since Beijing seized it from Manila in 2012.
It is about 240km west of the Philippines’ main island of Luzon and nearly 900km from Hainan, the nearest major Chinese land mass.
Atin Ito convoy organiser Edicio Dela Torre said Wednesday that the group’s “civilian supply mission is not just about delivering supplies, it’s about reaffirming our presence and rights in our own waters”.
“The world is watching, and the narrative of rightful ownership and peaceful assertion is clearly on our side,” he added.
The head of the coalition, Rafaela David, said in a statement Thursday: “Despite China’s massive blockade, we managed to breach their illegal blockade, reaching Bajo de Masinloc to support our fishers with essential supplies.”
In claiming almost the entire South China Sea, China has brushed off rival claims by the Philippines and other countries, and ignored the international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis.
To press its claims, Beijing deploys coast guard and other boats to patrol the waterway and has turned several reefs into artificial islands that it has militarised.
Maritime confrontations between China and the Philippines in the disputed waterway have raised fears of a wider conflict that could involve the United States and other allies.
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