TSAMTO, March 22. According to the Commander of the Philippine Coast Guard, Admiral George W. Ursabia, the Coast Guard plans to purchase two additional patrol ships (OPVs) from France.
The ships are designed to provide the ability to control the situation in the West Philippine Sea (the eastern part of the South China Sea).
As reported by Inquirer.net, at an online press briefing, the commander said that the Coast Guard intends to receive five new patrol ships. Currently, it has only one ship of this class-built by the French company OCEA (8301) "Gabriela Silang" (Gabriela Silang) class OPV-270 Mk.2. The ship was delivered in 2020.
The maximum length of the OPV built using the latest environmental requirements is 270 Mk.2 is 83.6 m, cruising range-8000 nautical miles at a speed of 12 knots, autonomy-5 weeks.
Since arriving in the country in April 2020, the ship "Gabriella Silang" has mainly been used to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, providing medical supplies and evacuating Filipino citizens.
According to the admiral, the ships of the Gabriella Silang class (OPV-270 Mk.2) "ideal" for use in the West Philippine Sea. For now, there is no possibility of sending an existing ship to the area due to the need to respond to an emergency situation, but after the situation with the pandemic has stabilized, the lead ship will be deployed to the West Philippine Sea.
As reported by TSAMTO, Vice Admiral George W. Ursabia first announced negotiations with the French government on the possibility of buying ships with capabilities similar to the Gabriella Silang in June 2020.
The Coast Guard Command also expects that in 2022, two 94-meter patrol ships will be delivered from Japan at a total cost of 6.7 billion filip. pesos, which will strengthen the patrolling capabilities. The acquisition of two more Gabriella Silang-class boats will bring the total number of patrol ships to five and allow for continuous patrolling in the West Philippine Sea.
