2 ships from US to patrol waters, study Benham Rise

MANILA, Philippines — American President Barack Obama earlier this month announced in Manila the United States' plan to provide two ships to the Philippines, its oldest ally in the region.

The White House revealed that the Philippines will soon receive high-endurance coast guard cutter USCGC Boutwell, formerly the sister ship of Philippine Navy flagship BRP Gregorio del Pilar when it was still in the US Navy's fleet, and research ship RV Melville, the oldest active vessel in the academic research fleet.

The two vessels will be transferred to the Philippines Navy as excess defense articles aimed "to rapidly enhance capability within limited budgets."

The RV Melville is a research vessel operated by Scripps Institution of Oceanography for oceanographic research in San Diego, California. Scripps photo

The Boutwell is the third Hamilton-class cutter sent to be part of the Philippine fleet in the past few years.

"This will provide the Philippines the ability to maintain greater maritime presence and patrols throughout its EEZ," the White House noted in a fact sheet.

The Melville, meanwhile, will "support naval research and law enforcement capabilities."

The Philippines remains the largest recipient of maritime security assistance from the US, receiving a record $79 million, or about P3.73 billion, of the funds allocated this year for developing capabilities in the Southeast Asian region.

Philippine Navy spokesperson Col. Edgard Arevalo said the research vessel will most likely be utilized to further explore Benham Rise, a new potentially oil-rich undersea region east of Luzon.

"The research vessel will not only provide us capability for hydrographic survey, it will also become a platform for interagency collaboration for partners in the academe and thus improve awareness of our sub-surface environment and study of the Benham Rise," Arevalo said.

The Philippines filed a claim over Benham Rise as part of its continental shelf with the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf on April 8, 2009 and was approved by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in 2012. — with a report from Priam Nepomuceno, PNA