Philippine Coast Guard Triples Fleet With French and Japanese Newbuilds
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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\u00a0patrol boats over 100 feet in length.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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<\/em> and Melchora Aquino.<\/em> Both have seen regular frontline service in the western Philippine Sea, confronting Chinese vessels and escorting outpost supply missions.\u00a0<\/p>\n 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n 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 <\/em>in 2020, and has also delivered four PCG fast patrol boats, BRP Boracay, Panglao, Malamawi <\/em>and Kalanggaman.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n “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\u2019 time we foresee that we will become the most respected and the most able coast guard [in Southeast Asia].”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \t
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