July 19, 2013- A French naval vessel with a length of 54.8 meters will be added to the floating assets of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) next year, this is the LA TAPAGEUSE (P691).
This vessel came out from it's assembly line in 1987 and were equipped with armaments a year later.
PCG spokesman commander Armand Balilo said that DOTC secretary Jun Abaya approved the purchase of La Tapageuse two weeks ago
According to Commander Balilo, DOTC will shell out the sum of 6.2 million euros or 354 million pesos for the purchase of the former french naval vessel inclusive of it's reconditioning.
La Tapageuse will be used for boarder patrol, search and rescue, maritime law enforcement, maritime safety, environmental protection and security.
The vessel is equipped with 40 mm Bofor L60 anti aircraft gun, a 20 mm GIAT F2 cannon and two 7.62 mm anti aircraft machine guns.
In relation to this, PCG is under negotiation with French government for the acquisition of an additional 82 meter and four brand new 24 meter patrol vessels for the first quarter of 2015.
Moreover, PCG is also due to receive ten new multi-role patrol vessels from Japan.
PCG's future floating assets might be deployed to West Philippine Sea in order to protect Ayungin and Scarborough Shoal which is claimed by China.
Meanwhile, 40 brand new 15 person capacity Zodiac rubber boats and 25 pieces of 300 aluminum hulled boats will be delivered to the PCG come September 2013. It has the capacity of ten people.
The remaining 275 aluminum hulled boats will be delivered early next year. These newly acquired boats will be brought to the province of Bicol for inter-island patrols.
-With Francis Rivera-UNTV Correspondent-
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