Indian Coast Guard ship arrives in Manila

An Indian Coast Guard (ICG) ship, Samudra Paheredar, arrived in Manila for a three-day port visit to showcase expertise in undertaking marine pollution response operations at sea.  

The Philippine Coast Guard personnel welcomed the Indian contingent in a ceremonial ship docking at the Pier 15 South Harbor in Manila on Monday.

The Samudra Paheredar will stay at the port until 28 March.

In an interview with media, PCG Deputy Chief of Staff for International Affairs, Commodore Algier Ricafrente, said the 40 ICG personnel will demonstrate marine environmental protection and maritime law enforcement capabilities to 80 of their Filipino counterparts. 

Ricafrente also noted that marine clean-up activities will be conducted within the Manila Baywalk Dolomite Beach, a seashore near Roxas Boulevard, Manila.

Activities related to addressing shared concerns in the maritime environment are also expected.

Ricafrente said the PCG is also considering future conduct of Coast Guard collaborations with the ICG beyond the Philippines’ territorial waters' limits. 

“We are also considering some of the exercises outside of our territorial waters or maybe wherever place we will agree upon,” he said. 

In the meantime, Ricafrente said the PCG personnel will also engage with ICG personnel on maritime search and rescue operations and inshore training exercises.

“We will also be sharing our best practices after we learn from their best practices on marine environment protection. We will see how we can improve our respective capabilities and interoperability,” he stressed. 

He noted that it was the first time for the ICG to send its pollution control vessel in the Philippines.

The Samudra Paheredar, indigenously built by M/S ABG Shipyard in Surat, India, is uniquely designed to contain, recover, and disperse oil spills, followed by transporting the recovered oil for further disposal. 

The vessel was commissioned on 20 July 2012. 

It has an integrated platform management system (IPMS), dynamic positioning system, power management system, external fire fighting system, bow thrusters, and 31 mm anti-aircraft gun to conduct Coast Guard charter duties.

The ship has a complement of 17 Coast Guard officials, 100 sailors, and 25 National Cadet Corps cadets onboard. 

Further, the ICG was recently commissioned for overseas deployment such as Singapore, Cambodia, and Malaysia from 22 February to 23 March. 

Ricafrente said the arrival of the Indian ship “marks a substantial advancement” in fostering collaboration between the PCG and the ICG. 

On 22 August last year, both Philippine and Indian coast guards signed a memorandum of understanding to enhance their maritime cooperation in vital areas such as marine environment conservation; search and rescue operations; capacity-building initiatives; and bilateral maritime activities.

Under the pact, PCG and ICG will conduct several people-to-people engagements, human resource development, and other joint marine exercises.