Phl, Japan hold anti-piracy drill
The drill follows the arrival of the Japan Coast Guard vessel Shikishima at Eva Macapagal Pier 13 in Manila on Friday.
The Philippine and Japanese coast guards will conduct an anti-piracy exercise in Manila Bay on Sunday, 18 October, to strengthen maritime security cooperation and improve their response to piracy incidents.
Commodore Algier Ricafrente, acting deputy chief of staff for international affairs of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), said the exercise would include boarding and searching vessels suspected of criminal activity and storming a cargo ship following a simulated hijacking.
The PCG will deploy two vessels measuring 197 meters and 144 meters for the exercise in Manila Bay waters near a maritime corridor.
The drill follows the arrival of the Japan Coast Guard vessel Shikishima at Eva Macapagal Pier 13 in Manila on Friday. The vessel is scheduled to remain in the Philippines until Sunday.
Ricafrente said this was the vessel’s first visit to the Philippines since it was commissioned in 2025.
“This is the first time this vessel has come here because it is a new ship. It was commissioned only in 2025,” Ricafrente said.
The Shikishima also participated in a recent maritime pollution exercise in Bitung, Indonesia, alongside the Philippine Coast Guard, he added.
Ricafrente said the anti-piracy exercise would test the coast guards’ ability to board and search suspicious vessels and respond to piracy at sea. It would also allow the two agencies to exchange best practices in maritime law enforcement.
The executive director of the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia is expected to observe the exercise.