3 Vessels from Japan, 4 from France for PH Coast Guard arriving in 2016

The Philippine Coast Guard is set to receive 3 vessels from Japan and 4 vessels from France in 2016, this was revealed by Coast Guard spokesperson Commander Armand Balilo in a report by Rappler.com. In connection to this, the Coast Guard will be conducting mass hiring to fill up positions including vessel crew for arriving assets.

Coast Guard is looking to hire 900 uniformed personnel in 2016. The Coast Guard only has around 8,800 personnel which is short to effectively guard the country’s 36,289 kilometers of coastline. The ideal is there should be one guard per kilometer of coastline

Philippine government has entered contracts for 10 44-meter Multi-Role Response Vessels (MRRV) from Japan; and 1 82-meter Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) and 4 24-meter fast patrol boats (FPB) from France. The larger French vessel will be based on shipbuilder OCEA’s OPV270.

Order from France is through Philippine Ports and Coast Guard Capability Development Project, while acquisition from Japan is known as Maritime Safety Capability Improvement Project.

source : updateph