Philippine Coast Guard Triples Fleet With French and Japanese Newbuilds

On Thursday, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. approved an order for five 320-foot cutters for the Philippine Coast Guard, bringing the service’s orderbook for new patrol vessels to a total of 49 hulls. The orders will roughly triple the service’s number of cutters and patrol boats over 100 feet in length. 

The new series of large, oceangoing cutters will be built by a Japanese yard, with financial support from Japan’s government. The order will significantly boost Manila’s ability to ensure presence and law-enforcement capability in the Spratly Islands, where it regularly faces off with Chinese forces inside the Philippine exclusive economic zone. 

The shipbuilder for the five new 97-meter cutters was not named, but Mitsubishi Shipbuilding has previously delivered two oceangoing patrol vessels of the same size for the PCG, the BRP Teresa Magbanua and Melchora Aquino. Both have seen regular frontline service in the western Philippine Sea, confronting Chinese vessels and escorting outpost supply missions. 

The five-ship order comes hot on the heels of the announcement of a 40-vessel order for 100-foot fast patrol craft, financed by the French government. 20 of these boats will be built in the Philippines, bringing a significant new source of local jobs and business. In addition, France will be backing up the PCG by providing logistical support to sustain the new vessels. 

One likely contender for the project could be OCEA, a French shipbuilder that has pledged to invest in a new shipyard division in the Philippines. The company built the PCG’s offshore patrol vessel BRP Gabriela Silang in 2020, and has also delivered four PCG fast patrol boats, BRP Boracay, Panglao, Malamawi and Kalanggaman. 

The value of the 40-boat deal comes to about $440 million, making it the largest single purchase in the Philippine Coast Guard’s history, PCG chief Adm. Ronnie Gil Gavan told reporters Thursday. 

“It is a game-changer for us. It will enable the Philippine Coast Guard to have at least two patrol boats in every district, fast enough to reach edges of our socio-economic zone forms to enforce the laws,” Adm. Gavan said. “In five years’ time we foresee that we will become the most respected and the most able coast guard [in Southeast Asia].”