Philippine Coast Guard’s first 97m response vessel wraps up final sea trials

Mitsubishi Shipbuilding recently completed the final series of sea trials of a new multi-role response vessel (MRRV) ordered by the Philippine Coast Guard.

The future BRP Teresa Magbanua will be commissioned into service following its delivery voyage to the Philippines before the end of February 2022. The future BRP Melchora Aquino, the second MRRV, is currently under construction at Mitsubishi’s Shimonoseki Shipyard.

The first MRRV honours Teresa Magbanua, a former schoolteacher who later gained fame as a military leader in the Philippines’ Visayas Islands during the Philippine Revolution, the Philippine-American War, and World War II.

At 97 metres LOA each, the Magbanua-class MRRVs will be the largest vessels ever to be operated by the Philippine Coast Guard.