The offshore patrol vessel, BRP Ramon Alcaraz (PS-16), will undergo sea trials starting on September 8 2020, to check whether it is ready for deployment after its engine room caught fire last May, a Philippine Navy official said Monday.
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A Gregorio del Pilar class frigate, BRP Ramon Alcaraz (PF-16). (Picture source: Philippine Navy)
Philippine Navy chief, Vice Admiral Giovanni Carlo Bacordo, said the vessel underwent major checks and repairs since it arrived last June 12 from picking-up overseas Filipino workers and tourists stranded in India and Sri Lanka.
Sea trials are the last part of the construction or repair process which determines the vessel's seaworthiness.
BRP Ramon Alcaraz and landing dock, BRP Davao Del Sur (LD-602), are the two ship-component of Naval Task Force 82 (NTF 82) deployed to Oman in February for the repatriation of overseas Filipinos in the Middle East following tensions between the United States and Iran early this year.
When tensions between the two countries eased, the task force went on another mission of transporting donated face masks and repatriation of stranded Filipinos in India and Sri Lanka due to the pandemic.
A Gregorio del Pilar class frigate, BRP Ramon Alcaraz (PF-16). (Picture source: Philippine Navy)
About the BRP Ramon Alcaraz:
BRP Ramon Alcaraz (PS-16) is the second ship of the Gregorio del Pilar-class offshore patrol vessels of the Philippine Navy. From 1968 to 2012, she was known as USCGC Dallas and served the United States Coast Guard as a high endurance cutter.
Ramon Alcaraz employs the shipboard application of aircraft gas turbine jet engines with the use of controllable pitch propellers. She is equipped with two 18,000 horsepower (13,000 kW) Pratt & Whitney gas turbines and can propel the ship at speeds up to 28 knots (52 km/h). Ramon Alcaraz also has two 3,500 horsepower (2,600 kW) Fairbanks-Morse diesel engines, capable of driving the ship economically at 17 knots (31 km/h) for up to 14,400 nautical miles (26,700 km) without refuelling.
Prior to turn-over to the Philippine Navy, the ship was armed with a Mk.75 Oto Melara 76 mm Compact main gun, two Mk.38 25 mm Bushmaster chain guns at midships, and a Phalanx CIWS system aft. The CIWS and chain guns were removed prior to its turn-over, with the Mk.75 gun remaining.
The Philippine Navy then purchased two new Mk.38 Mod.2 25 mm Bushmaster Autocannons to replace the mounts removed by the US Coast Guard. These were already installed as of January 25, 2015.
