Manila: In a shocking incident, a Chinese navy vessel collided with a China Coast Guard ship Monday near the contested Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea while pursuing a Philippine patrol boat, Philippine officials said.

The incident occurred as the Philippine coast guard escorted boats delivering aid to local fishermen, according to spokesman Commodore Jay Tarriela.

Video footage released by Manila showed a large Chinese vessel bearing hull number 164 crashing into a coast guard ship, producing a loud impact. The clash highlights ongoing tensions in the disputed waters.

"The (China Coast Guard vessel) CCG 3104, which was chasing the (Filipino coast guard vessel) BRP Suluan at high speed, performed a risky manoeuvre from the (Philippine) vessel's starboard quarter, leading to the impact with the PLA (People's Liberation Army) Navy warship," Tarriela said.

"This resulted in substantial damage to the CCG vessel's forecastle, rendering it unseaworthy," he said.

Gan Yu, a Chinese coast guard spokesperson, confirmed that a Monday confrontation had taken place without mentioning the collision.

"The China Coast Guard took necessary measures in accordance with the law, including monitoring, pressing from the outside, blocking and controlling the Philippine vessels to drive them away," he said in a statement.

The reported collision is the latest in a series of confrontations between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea, which Beijing claims almost entirely despite an international ruling that the assertion has no legal basis.

More than 60 percent of global maritime trade passes through the disputed waterway.

Speaking at a morning news conference, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos said the country's patrol vessels would "continue to be present" in the area to defend, as well as exercise Manila's sovereign rights over, what it considers to be part of its territory.

The Scarborough Shoal -- a triangular chain of reefs and rocks -- has been a flashpoint between the countries since China seized it from the Philippines in 2012.

It was unclear if anyone was hurt in Monday's incident. Tarriela told AFP the Chinese crew "never responded" to the Filipino ship's offer of assistance.

Earlier in the confrontation, the BRP Suluan was "targeted with a water cannon" by the Chinese but "successfully" evaded it, Tarriela's statement said.