Taccad to formally welcome BRP Tarlac, crew on May 16

From the Philippine News Agency (May 12): Taccad to formally welcome BRP Tarlac, crew on May 16

Philippine Navy (PN) flag-officer-in-command Vice Admiral Caesar C. Taccad will lead the welcoming ceremonies for BRP Tarlac (LD-601), the country's first strategic sealift vessel (SSV), this coming May 16.

The ceremony will be held at Pier 13 of the Manila South Harbor, said PN spokesperson Capt. Lued Lincuna.

Taccad will act as the event's guest-of-honor and speaker. Its highlights are the tribute and recognition to the laudable efforts of the sailors who were instrumental for the ship’s safe and successful voyage to the Philippines.

The BRP Tarlac left the Surabaya shipyard of Indonesian builder PT PAL (Persero) last Monday It is expected to arrive in Manila Bay on Saturday.

The SSVs are programmed to be the PN’s floating command-and-control centers especially in the conduct of humanitarian assistance and disaster response and serving other purposes as military sealift and transport vessels.

These vessels are also critical assets for civil-military operations due to their capability of transporting large number of soldiers, logistics, and supplies. Moreover, each SSV has the capacity to house three helicopters.

The ships are estimated to weigh around 7,300 gross register tons.

The Philippines has a two-SSV order with PT PAL (Persero) for PHP3,870,000,000 which is sourced from the AFP Modernization Fund.

The SSV acquisition project for the PN was initiated upon the approval of Acquisition Decision Memorandum Number 2012-060 by Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin last Oct. 30, 2013.

The Department of National Defense declared Persero as the Single Calculated Responsive Bidder with a bidding price of PHP3,870,000,000 on Nov. 18, 2014.

 http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=884493