BRP Davao Del Sur. (File photo)
MANILA – Four of the Philippine Navy (PN)'s largest ships are now earmarked for possible sealift and command-and-control missions in the aftermath of Super Typhoon Rolly.
PN public affairs office chief Lt. Commander Maria Christina Roxas made this remark Tuesday when asked about the Navy's contribution to the ongoing disaster response efforts for typhoon victims.
Ships now on standby are the PN's two landing docks, the BRP Tarlac and BRP Davao Del Sur, and two logistics support vessels, the BRP Bacolod City and BRP Dagupan City.
"(These ships could) basically serve as military sealift and transport vessel(s) and may act as floating command-and-control ship(s) during times of humanitarian assistance and disaster response operations (HADR)," Roxas said in a message to the Philippine News Agency.
She added that the four ships are considered the largest vessels in the PN inventory with the Tarlac-class dockings having a gross tonnage of 7,400 tons and an overall length of 120 meters, breadth of 21 meters, draft of five meters and can carry a payload of 2,800 tons.
Meanwhile, the Bacolod City-class logistic support vessels have a displacement of 4,265 tons at full load and 273 feet long.
As this developed, a Navy BN Islander aircraft on Monday conducted damage assessment flights over the coastal areas of San Andres and Virac in Catanduanes to assess the damage brought about by the super typhoon.
"All units of the PN in areas affected by Super Typhoon Rolly were put on heightened HADR stance and will continue to assist local government units and national agencies in responding to the needs of the Filipino people that were adversely affected by this calamity," Roxas said. (PNA)
