3 new ships officially turned over to Navy

CEBU, Philippines - The Royal Australian Navy officially turned over three vessels to the Philippine Navy, which were recently offloaded by NGT Shipping in Lilo-an, Cebu last March 26.

Captain Lued Lincuna, director of the Naval Public Office Affairs, said the Landing Craft Heavy (LCH) vessels can boost Philippine Navy’s humanitarian assistance and sealift abilities.

No specific location of the offloading of the LCH vessels was stated for security purposes.

The three new floating assets of the Philippine Navy are the sister ships of BRP Ivatan and BRP Batak which were donated by the Australian government last November 2015.

BRP Ivatan and BRP Batak are formerly known as HMAS Tarakan and HMAS Brunei, respectively.

The new ships are yet to be named, said Lincuna. They were formerly identified as Her Majesty’s Australian Ship (HMAS) Balikpapan (L126), HMAS Wewak (L130) and HMAS Betano (L133).

The three LCH vessels were sold to the Philippines for P270 million, according to Lincuna, and will be refurbished in the said offloading area before these are sent to the Navy’s shipyard in Sangley Point in Cavite in May this year.

Lincuna said they will hold a christening and commissioning activity of the three LCH vessels in the middle of May, just in time for the Philippine Navy’s 118th anniversary celebration. — (FREEMAN)