Philippine lawmakers lobby for new merchant marine training ship

The Philippine House of Representatives has begun its deliberations on a recently filed bill whose provisions also include the acquisition of a state-of-the-art training vessel for use by the Philippine Merchant Marine Academy (PMMA).

Section 18 of House Bill 10449 states that the PMMA multi-role vessel will also be used for patrols, research missions, surveys, and humanitarian assistance and disaster response (HADR). If activated for national service, the vessel will operate as a reserve affiliate platform under the Philippine Navy’s reserve command.

The bill also stated that the selected vessel must be powered by a diesel-electric propulsion system.