The Philippine Coast Guard has commissioned the former Taiwan Coast Guard Administration (TCGA) patrol vessel Kinmen as BRP Sarangani, following her formal turnover late last month.
The nonprofit We Protect Our Seas Foundation (WPSF), which had acquired the vessel from Taiwan, announced the commissioning on Friday, October 2. The foundation said it had obtained the fully refurbished vessel and transferred it free of charge to the Philippine Government.
WPSF added that the vessel was for civilian maritime use only.
Built in 2008 and named after a southern Philippine province, Sarangani is approximately 61 metres long and 11.7 metres wide. WPS indicated her displacement as around 688 tons.
The foundation said the vessel will support sea patrols, search and rescue (SAR) missions, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR), marine environmental protection, training, and other civilian missions.
In its September 21 handover announcement, WPSF said Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Ronnie Gil Gavan had indicated that the vessel will be operated off the southern island of Mindanao, supporting HADR, SAR, and environmental protection.
The acquisition followed months of coordination led by Dr Jeffrey Ordaniel, WPSF President and CEO.
“Our objective was straightforward: if we could bring a capable vessel to the Philippine Coast Guard without asking Filipino taxpayers to foot the bill, we should find a way to make it happen,” Ordaniel said. “It took months of work, but we reached an arrangement that worked.”
The foundation credited the TCGA and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in the Philippines with helping facilitate the transfer.
Taiwan’s Ocean Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling said the donation terms prohibited using the vessel to enforce laws against Taiwanese fishing boats, the Taipei Times reported.
The WPSF said practical maritime ties between the Philippines and Taiwan had grown since a 2013 episode concerning a Taiwanese fishing boat. It said the two could expand cooperation in SAR, safety at sea, fisheries, disaster response and marine conservation, in line with Manila’s “one-China policy”.
The 2013 incident involved Guang Da Xing No 28. Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Philippine Coast Guard personnel opened fire on the vessel, killing a Taiwanese fisherman. Fisheries law enforcement talks between the two sides followed the incident.
Under a 2015 fisheries law enforcement cooperation agreement, the parties were to refrain from using violence or excessive force and to notify one another in advance of enforcement measures involving the other party’s fishing vessels in areas where their exclusive economic zones overlap. The pact set a three-day period for releasing detained vessels and crew once the required bond, security or payment had been provided.
The Philippine Coast Guard has been acquiring secondhand vessels from overseas in recent years while also taking delivery of newbuild platforms as part of the expansion of its capabilities.
In August of this year, the service took formal delivery of two ex-US Coast Guard Marine Protector-class patrol boats in Baltimore. They were due in the Philippines in October, and their tasks will include maritime surveillance, oil spill response, and SAR.
In 2025, the Philippine Red Cross transferred a former US Navy prototype SWATH landing barge/ferry to the coast guard for HADR support and casualty evacuation.