10th Japan-made Coast Guard vessel arrives in PH

A 44-meter multi-role response vessel (MRRV)that completes the 10loaned vessels from Japan arrived in Manila Tuesday, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said.

Like the first nine vessels, it will be named after one of the primary lighthouses in the country to denote the important role of the lighthouses as a navigation aid to mariners.

The PCG said MRRV 4411 is the last of the Parola-class patrol vessels and will be named after Lighthouse Cape Engaño in Palaui Island, Santa Ana, Cagayan.

It will be under the helm of Commander Dennis Rem Labay as its commanding officer and Lieutenant Marilyn Jaal as its executive officer.

The new vessel was built by the Japan Marine United (JMU) Corporation in Yokohama Shipyard for the PCG. It will have a standard cruising speed of 25 knots and a range of 1,500 nautical miles.

The Maritime Safety Capability Improvement Project was awarded by the Department of Transportation to the JMU Corporation. It is being implemented as an Official Development Assistance (ODA) project, via a tied loan extended by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the PCG said.

It was disclosed that the loan facility covers 17,373,700,000 out of the total project of 18,807,700,000. The 11,434,000,000 balance will be sourced from the Philippine counterpart loan.

“JMU’s winning bid is in the amount of 12,790,000,000 Japanese Yen, and includes the supply of standard spare parts and tools, crew training, ocean transportation, and marine insurance,” the PCG said.

Captain Armand Balilo, PCG spokesman, said the vessel, together with the Barkong Republika ng Pilipinas (BRP) Bagacay (MRRV 4410), the ninth Japanmade vessel, will be commissioned under the Coast Guard’s service on August 23.

Since 2016, the 10 multi-role response vessels started being delivered into the country. The other eight vessels, which arrived in separate dates since then were commissioned as BRP Tubbataha, BPR Malabrigo, BRP Malapascua, BRP Capones, BRP Suluan, BRP Sindangan, BRP Cape San Agustin, and BRP Cabra.