Multirole ship provided by Japan. Embassy of Japan-Press
MANILA - The Philippines commissioned Thursday the second of 10 multirole ships provided by Japan, formally including it among the fleet of the country's coast guard.
A commissioning ceremony was held at the Philippine Coast Guard's headquarters in Manila for the 44-meter long vessel, christened the Malabrigo -- named after a prominent lighthouse in the country's southern Luzon province of Batangas.
"The new patrol vessel will help us implement our functions in the Philippine seas. These include search and rescue, environmental protection and law enforcement," Philippine Coast Guard spokesman, Cmdr. Armando Balilo, told Kyodo News in a recent interview.
The ship's technological features include fire monitors, night vision camera, radio direction finder, a work boat and a bullet-proof navigational bridge.
The first of the 10 ships from Japan, the Tubbataha, was commissioned on Oct. 12.
Manufactured by Japan Marine United Corp., the ships were obtained by the Philippines through an official development assistance loan of 7.37 billion pesos ($147 million) from Japan.
At least one of the remaining ships is expected to arrive in the Philippines in each quarter of next year.