The deal signed on February 7, 2020, is part of the second phase of the joint Japanese-Philippine Maritime Safety Capability Improvement Project (MSCIP). The contract value is 14.55 billion Japanese yen (132.57 million dollars) with financing via the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
The MRRV patrol vessels will reportedly be based on the 96 meters Kunigami-class (also known as Kunisaki-class) patrol ships being built for the Japanese Coast Guard. 18 units have been commissioned since 2012 with two more on order. The main contractor is MHI.
The MRRV will be structurally different with the addition of a helicopter hangar. The date for the delivery of ships was initially set for June 2021, however, according to recent reports, the delivery is now expected in early 2022.
Both ships will become the largest units of the Philippine Coast Guard which has been renewing its fleet recently. In late 2019 it took delivery of a large, aluminum hull OPV built by French shipyard OCEA.
Earlier in 2016-2018, the Philippine Coast Guard received ten 44.5-meter patrol boats of the Parola type (also designated as Multi-Role Response Vessels – MRRV) as part of the first phase of the joint Japanese-Philippine MSCIP program to strengthen the capacity of the Philippine coast guard. They were built by the Japanese shipbuilder Japan Maritime United Corporation (JMU) under a 2013 contract worth $ 191 million. This contract was 85% funded by Japanese government assistance to the Philippines through the same JICA agency.
