The Naval Task Force (NTF) 82, consisting of the offshore patrol vessel BRP RAMON ALCARAZ PS 16 and landing ship BRP DAVAO DEL SUR LD 602, left Muscat , Oman on Tuesday 21st April and will make a stop at Kochi in India to pick up personnel protective equipment (PPE) before heading home to the Philippines reaching Manila by the third week of May.
“The naval vessels will make a brief stop at Port Cochin, India to pick up personal protective equipment (PPE) donated by a foreign private company in coordination with the Office of Civil Defense, the government’s agency that is mandated to consolidate all donations to the national government and the Department of Health in this Covid-19 pandemic,” Philippine Navy public affairs office chief, Lt. Commander Maria Christina Roxas, said in a press statement late Tuesday. With their 400 compliment, they left Oman after ensuring that no member had Covid-19 symptoms as precautionary measures were earlier beefed up to keep the vessels virus free.
BRP RAMON ALCARAZ PS 16 is an offshore patrol vessel and the second ship of the GREGORIO DEL PILAR Class. From 1968 to 2012, she was known as USCGC DALLAS WHEC 716 which served the United States Coast Guard as a high endurance cutter. She was decommissioned on 30th March 2012 and acquired by the Philippines under the Excess Defense Articles and the Foreign Assistance Act.
USCGC 716 DALLAS at Valletta, Malta back in 16th August, 2008.
BRP DAVAO DEL SUR LD 602 is the second and last ship of her landing platform docks class. She is the second ship to be named after the Philippine province of Davao del Sur, one of the main provinces in Mindanao in Southern Philippines. She was launched on 29th September 2016 and she was commissioned on 31st May 2017 – https://www.manilalivewire.com/2016/09/philippines-acquisition-of-its-second-largest-naval-ship-is-nearing/
The NTF 82 was deployed to the Middle East in February for the possible evacuation of overseas Filipino workers after tensions between the US and Iran erupted early this year.
Photos by Capt. Lawrence Dalli. Do not use these images without my permission. © All rights reserved. Malta Ship Photos & Action Photos – www.maltashipphotos.com
Published – Tuesday 28th April,2020
