The Philippine Navy has received three decommissioned Landing Craft Heavy (LCH) vessels from the Royal Australian Navy, thus boosting its fleet that is struggling to modernize in the face of China’s maritime activities in the West Philippine Sea.
Navy public affairs chief Captain Lued Lincuna said the Australian vessels arrived in Liloan, Cebu on March 26 at 10:30 in the morning.
“They were transported by a cargo ship from NTG Shipping traversing the waters from Darwin, Australia via Cairns, also of Australia, before heading to the Philippines,” Lincuna said.
He said the government bought the vessels for a total of P270 million “in conjunction with the two vessels of the same kind that were donated by the Australian government and subsequently turned over to the Navy on July 23, 2015.”
Lincuna said that from Cebu the vessels will sail to the Navy’s shipyard in Cavite in May for the commissioning that is tentatively scheduled on May 25, 2016 in time for the PN anniversary celebration.
“With their capability of moving large amounts of cargo, personnel and equipment, these vessels will bolster the [Navy’s] humanitarian assistance and disaster relief [HADR] operations. They will also be useful in transporting troops from one operational area to another especially during amphibious operations,” Lincuna said.
The Navy had already spent ample time to train selected crew of the three vessels.
“The operational readiness training is deemed to be dynamic and adaptable to changes. At present, more or less 30 Navy personnel are assigned aboard ship while the vessel will undergo minor repairs and refurbishment,” Lincuna said.