Philippine Coast Guard Accepts Two Ex-US Patrol Boats Named for Spratly Islands
Marine Protector-class craft handed over in Baltimore for October arrival
The Philippine Coast Guard has formally accepted two former US Coast Guard Marine Protector-class patrol boats at a ceremony in Baltimore, Maryland, on Thursday 20 August.
The vessels, previously USCGC Bluefin and USCGC Marlin, have been repainted in Philippine Coast Guard livery and will be recommissioned as BRP Patag and BRP Pag-asa respectively following their scheduled arrival in the Philippines in October 2026. The names chosen are those of two Philippine-occupied islands in the disputed Spratlys in the South China Sea, which gives the transfer a significance beyond the tonnage involved.
The handover followed the completion of specialised operational and maintenance training by the 24 Philippine Coast Guard personnel who will serve as the initial crew complements. The service has said the boats will be used for maritime domain awareness, oil spill response, and search and rescue.
The US Coast Guard has decommissioned a number of its Marine Protector-class patrol boats, which first entered service in 1999. They are being replaced by Sentinel-class fast response cutters built by Bollinger Shipyards. Other operators of ex-US Marine Protector-class boats include the Uruguayan Navy, the Ghanaian Navy and the Lebanese Navy.
Each vessel has a length of 87 feet, or 27 metres, a range of 900 nautical miles, a top speed of 25 knots, and a stern launch and recovery system for use with a rigid inflatable boat. The armament on each includes two 12.7mm machine guns.
The range figure sets the practical limit on their employment. At 900 nautical miles they are coastal assets rather than vessels capable of sustained presence in the outer Spratlys, where the distances from Palawan and the endurance required have driven the Philippine Coast Guard toward larger cutters. The transfer adds hull numbers for near-shore patrol, search and rescue and the pollution response work governed by MARPOL, freeing larger units for the disputed waters the two names refer to.
