Coast Guard to acquire 40 new rubber boats

Manila, Philippines -  The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) needs 40 new rubber boats.

PCG spokesman Lieutenant Commander Armand Balilo yesterday said the maritime agency would be allocating P32 million for the purchase of new rubber boats, which they hope to acquire and be delivered in two months or less.

“We need the rubber boats in the conduct of speedy search and rescue operations this rainy season,” said Balilo.

Of the 40 rubber boats, about five to eight would be given to their divers’ unit called the Special Operations Group (SOG). The rubber boat is the easiest and most flexible mode of transport for the PCG.

“It is the most mobile. Rubber boats can be transported on board a ship. It can be loaded in a helicopter and dropped on the water. It can be carried on board a truck and as we have proven during typhoon “Ondoy,” it can even be deflated to fit inside an Light Rail Transit (LRT) coach,” he said.

When Ondoy hit the country in 2009, several areas in Metro Manila were flooded and the road obstructions stalled vehicular traffic. The PCG had to deflate rubber boats to fit them inside an LRT coach that they later used in saving the residents of Provident Village in Marikina City.

The rubber boats would be used by the SOG for coastal patrol and in the conduct of SAR missions. During peacetime, the boats would be used for water search and rescue (WASAR) trainings of PCG personnel and volunteers from local communities.

As for the remaining 32 to 35 rubber boats, “these would be equally divided among the 12 PCG districts,” according to Balilo.

The PCG official clarified that the 40 rubber boats are not included in the plans of the Aquino administration, through the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), to procure rescue equipment amounting to P521 million.