Philippines invites Japan to build five new Teresa Magbanua-class patrol vessels for Coast Guard.

On January 5, 2025, the Philippine government formally opened bidding for the Japanese company Mitsubishi Shipbuilding to build five additional Teresa Magbanua-class patrol vessels for the Philippine Coast Guard.

As reported by Herbie_atX, on January 5, 2025, the Philippine Department of Transportation formally invited the Japanese company Mitsubishi Shipbuilding to construct the next batch of five Teresa Magbanua-class patrol vessels for the Philippine Coast Guard following a new bid opening. The 97-meter Multi-Role Response Vessels (MMRVs) are part of Phase III of the Maritime Safety Capability Improvement Project, financed mainly through a loan from the Japan International Cooperation Agency, and will expand the Coast Guard’s large offshore patrol fleet from two to seven ships.
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The five 97-meter Multi-Role Response Vessels (MMRVs) to be procured under Phase III are expected to follow the general configuration of the Philippine Coast Guard’s Teresa Magbanua-class, which is based on the Japanese Kunigami-class patrol vessel design. (Picture source: PCG)

The bid opening marks the start of Phase III of the Maritime Safety Capability Improvement Project and confirms that the country is proceeding with a fleet expansion from 2 to 7 Teresa Magbanua-class patrol vessels. The program covers the full cycle from ship design through construction and delivery, and is financed primarily through a loan provided by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), complemented by Philippine government funding. By opening the bidding process, Manila has effectively shifted the project from political approval and financing into an industrial phase that will determine how quickly these five patrol vessels, based on the Japanese Kunigami-class design, can enter service.

The call concerns five vessels of roughly 97 meters in length, intended to be built and delivered as a single program rather than as isolated hulls. All work related to construction, systems integration, trials, crew preparation, and handover is included in the same package, reflecting the Coast Guard’s preference for standardized ships with common logistics and training pipelines. Participation in the bidding process requires Mitsubishi Shipbuilding Co., the company associated with earlier vessels of this class, to commit significant financial guarantees, including a ₱50,000 fee to access the bidding material and a bid security set at ¥841.845 million, underscoring the scale of the project and the expectation of industrial reliability. Proposals must be submitted by February 19, 2026, at the Department of Transportation’s Mandaluyong office, with technical compliance assessed before any financial comparison is made.

The Maritime Safety Capability Improvement Project (MSCIP) Phase III is the latest stage in a long-running modernization effort for the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) that began more than a decade ago with Japanese support. The first phase of the program resulted in the delivery of ten 44-meter Multi-Role Response Vessels (MRRVs) from the Parola-class in 2013, significantly increasing the Coast Guard’s capacity for coastal patrols, disaster response, and inter-island missions. A second phase followed with the delivery of two much larger 97-meter vessels from the Teresa Magbanua-class in 2016 for sustained offshore operations: to date, these two MMRVs remain the largest ships currently in PCG service. These earlier acquisitions were paired with training and capacity-building activities that shaped crewing models, maintenance practices, and operational concepts. Phase III builds directly on these foundations by expanding the number of large offshore-capable platforms rather than introducing a new ship category, reinforcing fleet commonality and sustainment continuity across multiple vessel generations.

The push toward Phase III accelerated between 2022 and 2024 as Philippine authorities identified structural limitations in offshore coverage, endurance, and simultaneous regional presence. These officials concluded that two large vessels were insufficient for continuous coverage of offshore areas, particularly given the scale of the country’s exclusive economic zone and extended continental shelf. This assessment led to the acceptance of Phase III by the National Economic and Development Authority in November 2023 and the signing of a Japanese loan agreement in June 2024 valued at ¥64.38 billion, equivalent to about ₱24.5 billion. The overall project envelope was set at approximately ₱29.3 billion, with remaining costs covered by Philippine counterpart funding. The project also incorporates integrated logistics support and personnel considerations, with estimates indicating around 380 crew members required for the five ships and an intended operational life of approximately 30 years under a preventive maintenance policy carried over from earlier MSCIP phases.

The vessels to be procured under Phase III are expected to follow the general configuration of the Philippine Coast Guard’s two existing Teresa Magbanua-class ships, the BRP Teresa Magbanua (MRRV-9701) and BRP Melchora Aquino (MRRV-9702), based on the Japan Coast Guard’s Kunigami-class patrol vessel. Both vessels measure about 96.6 meters in length with a beam of roughly 11.5 meters and a gross tonnage of around 2,260 GT. Propulsion is provided by two diesel engines delivering a combined output of approximately 13,200 kW, enabling sustained speeds of about 24 knots and ranges exceeding 4,000 nautical miles at cruising speed, for an endurance beyond 15 days at sea.

Compared to the Japanese ships, the Teresa Magbanua-class possesses expanded crew accommodations and mission spaces tailored for longer missions, a central hangar and split funnels to accommodate an Airbus H145 helicopter (in place of a smaller boat and crane), and omits the Japanese autocannon armament due to export restrictions. Each ship carries a crew complement of around 67 officers and sailors, and armament upgrades such as 30 mm main guns are planned to augment law enforcement capabilities.

Since their commissioning in 2022, the BRP Teresa Magbanua and BRP Melchora Aquino have already been employed in offshore patrols, disaster response missions, and maritime law enforcement operations, including prolonged deployments within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone in the West Philippine Sea. For instance, the Teresa Magbanua has been involved in multiple sustained deployments near the Scarborough Shoal, issuing radio challenges to foreign coast guard and naval units and maintaining presence amid rough seas and maritime tensions, while also supporting resupply missions and sheltered civilian traffic.

The ship has made port calls overseas, including a visit to Kagoshima, Japan, in June 2025, and participated in bilateral cooperation exercises and humanitarian roles, such as emergency response after natural disasters. Melchora Aquino has sailed in joint maritime cooperative activities with the United States Coast Guard and Philippine Navy units in the Sulu Sea, including integrated patrols involving larger surface combatants and aerial assets. The cost per unit of these initial two ships was about ¥7.275 billion (approximately $67,900,000), but both vessels allowed the PCG to better protect the Philippines' fishing fleets and assert the country's jurisdiction in contested waters.

Written by Jérôme Brahy

Jérôme Brahy is a defense analyst and documentalist at Army Recognition. He specializes in naval modernization, aviation, drones, armored vehicles, and artillery, with a focus on strategic developments in the United States, China, Ukraine, Russia, Türkiye, and Belgium. His analyses go beyond the facts, providing context, identifying key actors, and explaining why defense news matters on a global scale.