The Philippines is finalizing the terms of a financing agreement with the French Treasury for the delivery of several offshore patrol vessels to the Philippine Coast Guard by French shipbuilding firm OCEA S.A.
Trade Undersecretary and Board of Investments managing head Ceferino Rodolfo said the Philippines signed a memorandum of understanding for a motherhood financing agreement with French companies and the French Treasury.
“This will be on top of the P1.5-billion shipyard investment that OCEA has committed to bring into the Philippines in the last two years,” Rodolfo said. He said the procurement of sea vessels is part of a tactical plan of OCEA to invest in the Philippines.
“When they get this contract, they said they will invest in a shipyard here. It does not have to be full ownership of a shipyard. One of the modalities they are exploring is, maybe, to lease an existing shipyard,” he said.
Rodolfo said the Cerberus Shipyard in Subic, formerly Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Philippines Inc., may take on a lease contract.
Part of Cerberus plans, when it acquired the Subic Shipyard from Hanjin for $300 million, is lease parts of it to locators.