Coast Guard Ordered to Dispose of Rundown Vessels

PCG should dispose of 10 rundown vessels (photo : timawa)

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) should dispose of 10 rundown vessels so it could save funds, the Commission on Audit (COA) said in a report.

The PCG reportedly has 14 aging ships and 33 small sea craft and airplanes, 10 of which are already broken beyond repair and “just occupy space in piers.”

COA said keeping the vessels was costly “because personnel need to be assigned in the area to guard these assets.”

“Mothballed assets will be better disposed of immediately, rather than left to further corrode,” COA said.

An audit team began checking on the condition of PCG vessels last year. Aside from the vessels, the PCG also has five aircraft.

Of the 14 ships, only eight or 57 percent are ready for sea (RFS), meaning these ships can sail out to sea whenever needed, while six ships or 43 percent are on a NRFS (not ready for sea) status.

Of the six ships on NRFS status, the COA report said four are already being considered as mothballed or beyond repair.

“The mothballed floating assets, whose net book value could not be determined because of the absence of documents, appeared to be beyond economical repair. These boats are no longer used by PCG,” the COA report said.

“We believe that the non-action of the PCG on the disposal of mothballed ships and small crafts is disadvantageous to the government,” the audit team stressed.

State auditors said the PCG management should immediately conduct inspection and evaluate the status of all its floating assets.

“If found to be no longer needed and are not under litigation, decommission the ships and small crafts and prepare the necessary inspection and inventory report to begin the process of disposal,” COA recommended.

(PhilStar)