The Philippine Navy (PN) on Thursday denied a report stating that all of its six MPACs (multi-purpose attack craft) are out of service and undergoing repair.
"The report is erroneous. (The) MPACs are operationally deployed in different parts. One is in Palawan, two are in Zamboanga, one is in Cavite, one in Cebu and one in Colorado Shipyard (in Cebu City) undergoing maintenance check," Navy spokesperson Lt. Cmdr. Gregory Fabic said.
He added that this is part of the PN's Deploy, Sustain, Repair and Train (DSRT) cycle policy wherein all MPACs should undergo mandatory inspection and maintenance check every four years.
"It includes repair and servicing of hull, propulsion system and other information system components," Fabic stressed.
Fabic said that all MPAcs are considered efficient and serviceable as of this posting.
"They (MPACs) are widely used during the defense of Zamboanga; humanitarian and disaster relief operations during the Bohol earthquake and super typhoon 'Yolanda' and search-and-rescue operations during the sinking of the M/V St. Thomas Aquinas in Cebu and the recent collision of fishing boat F/B Dan Israel-L at the vicinity of Ternate and Caballo Islands," he stressed.
These ships are 16.5 meters long, 4.76 meters wide and have a draft of one meter and a top speed of 45 knots.
Each one cost around P90 million and has a range of 300 nautical miles.
The hull is made of high-quality aluminum and is crewed by one officer and four enlisted personnel.
It is capable of carrying 16 fully-equipped troopers or two tons of cargo.
The MPAC is capable of operating in territorial waters up to "Sea State 3" (slight waves) without any system degradation.
It is armed with one .50 caliber and two 7.62mm machine guns.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=627348
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