The contract to build six (6) Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPV) with South Korean shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) worth PHP30 billion was signed by Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana for the Philippine Department of National Defense (DND), and Hyundai Heavy Industries vice-chairman and president Sam Hyun Ka, on 27 June 2022 at the Department of National Defense. The event was witnessed by South Korean Ambassador to the Philippines Kim In-cheol; General Andres B Centino, Chief of Staff, Armed Forces of the Philippines; RADM Caesar Bernard N Valencia, Acting Flag-Officer-In-Command, Philippine Navy; and other DND, AFP and HHI officials. This is the culmination of months of careful study by the Department of National Defense, as endorsed by the Philippine Navy.
Defense spokesperson Arsenio Andolong, in a statement late Monday, said,”Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and HHI vice chairperson and president Sam Hyun Ka signed the deal at the DND building in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City. The event was witnessed by South Korean Ambassador to the Philippines Kim In-cheol; General Andres Centino, Chief-of-Staff, Armed Forces of the Philippines; Rear Admiral Caesar Bernard N. Valencia, Acting Flag-Officer-In-Command, PN; and other DND, AFP, and HHI officials.”
The project aims to further enhance the maritime patrol capabilities of the Philippine Navy, and includes technology transfer, particularly Human Engineering Operators and Maintenance Training of Equipment, Operations Traininng and a Design Ownership, granting the Philippine Navy a license to manufacture/build using the OPV’s design for the exclusive use of the Philippine government. In addition to the above, a Lifetime Service Support contract was also signed for the sustainment of the Jose Rizal-class Frigates. The OPV project was prioritized under the Second Horizon of the Revised AFP Modernization Program, as approved by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte in May 2018.
These planned Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPV) measure 94.4 meters long, 14.3 meters wide, and gave a displacement of 2,400 tons, maximum speed of 22 knots, cruising speed of 15 knots, and a range of 5,500 nautical miles. The initial funding for the Philippine Navy’s OPV project amounting to PHP3 billion was released by the Department of Budget (DBM) last June 16 under Special Allotment Release Order (SARO)-BMD-D-22-0004970. The South Korean shipbuilder has been selected by the PN’s technical working group (TWG) for the project. The Offshore Patrol Vessels are expected to replace the World War II surface assets decommissioned by the Philippine Navy. HHI’s Naval & Special Ship Business Unit has the technology to design and build modern and reliable surface and underwater combatants and auxiliary support vessels of various proven and advanced hull forms.
