MV Karagatan incident

MV Karagatan incident
MV Karagatan hits a rock while on waters off Digoyo Point
DateJuly 4, 1972 (1972-07-04)
LocationDigoyo Point, Palanan, Isabela, Philippines
Coordinates16°55′00.6″N 122°27′48.5″E / 16.916833°N 122.463472°E / 16.916833; 122.463472
TypeArms trafficking
MotiveArms trafficking for the New People's Army for use in the communist rebellion in the Philippines
Participants New People's Army
 China (financier)
OutcomeArms shipment intercepted by the Philippine military; MV Karagatan sank and crew abandoned ship
Property damageMV Karagatan (sank)

The July 1972 MV Karagatan incident was an unsuccessful attempt by the New People's Army — the armed wing of the Marxist–Leninist–Maoist Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) — to smuggle armaments from China into the Philippines via the ship MV Karagatan. The incident is notable for having been cited by President Ferdinand Marcos as one of his rationales for imposing martial law in the Philippines in September 1972.