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The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) wants to acquire more 97-meter Multi Role Response Vessels (MRRV) from Japan.

PCG Deputy Commandant for Operations, Coast Guard Vice Admiral Eduardo Fabricante conveyed the possibility of buying additional units of 97-meter MRRVs to officials of the Mitsubishi Heavy Industry, Shimonoseki Shipyard, and Toyota Tsusho Corp. who paid a courtesy call to the PCG headquarters in Manila on Tuesday.

Also present during the meeting were Commander of Coast Guard Fleet, Rear Admiral Charlie Rances; Chief of Coast Guard Staff, Commodore Tito Alvin Andal; Deputy Chief of Coast Guard Staff for Strategic Studies and Modernization, Captain Eric Ferrancullo; deputy chief of Coast Guard Staff for Ships and Aircraft Engineering, Commander Jonathan Coloma; Deputy Chief of Coast Guard Staff for Maritime Safety Services, Commander Jomark Angue; and Acting Project Management Officer and Commander Anthony Cuevas.

The 97-meter MRRVs of PCG which were recently commissioned as BRP Teresa Magbanua and BRP Melchora Aquino were modeled after the Japan Coast Guard (JCG)’s Kunigami-class vessels.

According to the PCG, "BRP Teresa Magbanua and BRP Melchora Aquino will be deployed to the West Philippine Sea and Philippine Rise. This is to increase the endurance and patrol capabilities of the PCG as the capital ships can stay up to 14 days at sea."

During the courtesy call, Fabricante shared with Japanese officials the successful participation of BRP Teresa Magbanua in its first mission the Regional Maritime Pollution Exercise (Marpolex) 2022 held in Makassar, Indonesia on May 22 to 29.

"Meanwhile, the Japanese officials headed by Project General Manager Yasunori Yamaguchi of Toyota Tsusho Corp. requested the delivery of PCG’s reports on the operational status and condition of lighthouses as reference for their proposal for the Aids to Navigation Rehabilitation Project. They also discussed the expansion of the Vessel Traffic Management Service nationwide," it said. Robina Asido/DMS