Japan to supply 10 patrol boats

THE Philippines will receive 10 Coast Guard patrol boats on loan from Japan to enhance its capability to prevent illegal intrusions in its maritime area.

Japan to supply 10 patrol boats for Coast Guard
Written by Recto Mercene

THE Philippines will receive 10 Coast Guard patrol boats from Japan to enhance its capability to prevent illegal intrusions in its maritime area.

Foreign Affairs Spokesman Raul Hernandez said the acquisition of the patrol boats is not directed at any country in the ongoing disputes on the South China Sea that the Philippines has renamed West Philippine Sea.

The new boats are on top of the two 40-year-old refurbished US Coast Guard cutters that were bought from the United States—BRP Gregorio del Pilar that arrived last year and the BRP Ramon Alcaraz that is expected by April.

Japan earlier offered to donate two of the boats, costing $11 million each, but the deal turned into a loan for a total of 10 boats as requested by the Philippine government.

The Japanese government plans to finance the deal in its fiscal 2013 budget starting in April and hopes to sign the supply contract early next year, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun business daily reported.

Japan will provide the Philippines with the newly built patrol vessels, which will cost more than ¥1 billion ($11 million) each, the newspaper said, without specifying the number of boats on offer.

Both countries are locked in separate territorial disputes with China.

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Source: Business Mirror.