REPAIRS ON the offshore patrol vessel, BRP Ramon Alcaraz (PS-16), which was forced to return to the Port of Cochin in India after a fire damaged its main engine room as it sailed to the Philippines on May 7, are slated to be completed on May 27.
"So far, they initially (gave an) ETC (estimated time of completion) on May 27 for the repairs of PS-16. There are still no other details," Philippine Navy (PN) public affairs office chief, Lt. Commander Maria Christina Roxas, said in a message to the Philippine News Agency on Thursday.
When asked where the parts needed for the repair of the damaged sections of the vessel came from, Roxas said, "What I have heard, everything was sourced (from) India."
After the repairs, the crew of the BRP Ramon Alcaraz will conduct sea testing and trials before proceeding home with BRP Davao Del Sur (LD-602), which was also forced to return to the Port of Cochin to seek shelter from Cyclone Amphan that battered eastern India and neighboring Bangladesh.
"The estimated time of completion of all the repairs aboard PS-16 is on 27 May. Today (Thursday) or tomorrow (Friday), (it) will already conduct sea trial to test (its) main and auxiliary engines," Navy chief, Vice Adm. Giovanni Carlo Bacordo said in a text message.
The BRP Davao Del Sur was earlier projected to reach the Philippines by May 23 after sailing alone on May 9.
The two ships, which composed PN Naval Task Force 82, were deployed to Oman last February as a contingency measure should a large evacuation of overseas Filipino workers be needed following tensions between the United States and Iran.
They sailed from Sultan Qaboos, Oman last April 21 and arrived in India on April 29 to fetch a donation of 200,000 pieces of face mask from a Filipino businessman based in the country, as well as 18 Filipino tourists who were stranded due to the Covid-19 outbreak. (By Priam Nepomuceno)
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