The Philippine Coast Guard has formally received the first multi-role response vessel BRP Tubbataha from the Japan government today after it arrived at South Harbor in Manila.
The 44-meter vessel was named after lighthouse Tubbataha which is located in Tubbataha Marine National Park, Palawan.
She departed Japan on August 11 with two Philippine Coast Guard officers and ten non-officers onboard and reached Manila today, August 18.
Nine more MRRVs will be built by the Japan Marine United Corporation (JMUC) Yokohama Shipyard for the PCG and will also be named after the primary lighthouses in the country.
The MRRVs will be used as primary rescue vessels, in the control of oil pollution and protection of the marine environment and serve as platforms for rapid response during relief operations in the area, the PCG said.
The MRRVs will be deployed to various PCG Districts across the country, including Manila, La Union, and Puerto Princesa.
Rear Admiral Melad lauded the Japanese government for the support to the PCG’s capability development programs. Over the past 18 years, Japan through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has extended numerous assistance to the Philippine Coast Guard in terms of human resource development, providing additional equipment for the communications, diving and rescue, personal protective equipment for oil spill combat operations, and donating small boats and rubber boats.
BRP Corregidor (AE-891), a 56-meter lighthouse/buoy tender vessel which is one of the capital ships of the PCG primarily used in the installation of buoys and other aids to navigation and in the removal of obstructions and hazards to the safety of navigation is marked as the first ever Coast Guard vessel donated by the Japan government in 1998.