The Philippines commissioned into service two more Japan-made patrol ships on March 28, bringing to eight the number of vessels added to its coast guard fleet.
They are built for an average operating cruising speed of 46 km per hour and can detect other vessels up to 1,500 nautical miles away.
Meanwhile, the four 7m class high-speed boats are part of the 13 high-speed boats provided under Japan’s grant aid worth 600 million yen or about PHP290 million.
Speaking at the event, Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines Koji Haneda said Japan has delivered eight vessels to the Philippines and expects the remaining two to arrive within a few months, adding that Japan will also be providing four smaller inflatable, rigid hull boats.
Earlier on March 26, Japan donated three maritime surveillance planes TC-90 to the Philippines to improve the capacity of its naval forces.
The ships were based on the “Maritime Safety Capability Improvement Project for the Philippine Coast Guard” and the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC). It was funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency’s (JICA) Official Development Assistance (ODA) loan. JICA provided Php 7.3 Billion, while the Philippine government counterparts around Php 1.4 Billion the entire project value.
