Video: Philippine Coast Guard Takes Possession of “Gabriela Silang” OPV built by OCEA

OCEA shipyards was selected in 2014 for the supply of 5 boats at civil standards, with the associated logistic support services: 4 fast-patrol boats of 24 m type OCEA FPB 72 MKII and 1 offshore patrol vessel of 84 m type OCEA OPV 270.

Whereas the FPB 72MKII is a one of the best sellers of OCEA well-known for its reliability, the OCEA OPV 270 is a world premiere state of the art vessel, outcome of 30 years of experience and permanent innovation in the field of aluminum design and shipbuilding.

The OCEA OPV 270 was selected for its exceptional performances, matching the demanding operational profiles of the Philippines Coast Guard missions. The latest sea trials confirmed that the vessel is more than capable to perform beyond its contractual specification of 20 knots of speed, a range of 8000 nautical miles at 15 knots and an endurance of up to 5 weeks of operation. The trials also confirmed its excellent sea keeping ability, its maneuverability and the great comfort on board, an important factor for the 66 crew and personnel on those long missions.

OCEA OPV 270: A highly efficient vessel

Beyond these technical characteristics, the Government of the Philippines demonstrated its forward-thinking during the international competition for the attribution of the contract by explicitly stating that it was also seduced by the exceptional performance in terms of CO2 emissions and operational costs.

The specific conception of the OCEA OPV 270 will, over 20 years of operation, allow for a CO2 emission reduction of 20 400 tons, equivalent to approximately 40% reduction by comparison to a similar size steel vessel, for equal performances.

While still having a competitive acquisition price, the OCEA solutions for aluminum vessels allow for significantly lower operational costs. This factor, associated to a high performance integrated logistic support and crew training, enables higher operational uptimes at sea, whether it is search and rescue interventions or security missions.

This acquisition will allow the Philippines to strengthen their presence in the Western Philippines Sea for a peaceful and secure development of the national Blue Economy while respecting its commitment against climate change and toward the COP21 Paris Agreement goals.

The Gabriela Silang and her crew are expected to set sails for the Philippines by December 31st. She will sail to the Philippines on her own.

Gabriela Silang OPV specifications

The main characteristics of the OPV 270 are as follows:

• Overall length : 84.00 m
• Range : 8000 nm @ 12 kts
• Endurance : 5 weeks
• Speed : 22.0 knots
• Crew : 40 sailors
• Passenger and VIP : 26 persons
• Survivors room: 35 persons

The Gabriela Silang also features two jail cells, a sick bay, a command and control room with Nexeya’s LYNCEA combat management system, a diver’s room, helicopter deck and hangar for the Philippine Coast Guard H145 (an H135 for the deck trials in France), 2x RHIBS by Sillinger, passive and active stabilization systems, Kelvin Hughes navigation radars.

The quality and comfort of the facilities aboard the Gabriela Silang are truly impressive and rarely found onboard an OPV. An important factor to retain and motivate crews, especially when they can stay more than 40 days out at sea…