Coastguard forces are in constant demand to help defend against illegal Chinese EEZ exploitation and other maritime criminal activity.
Larger surface combatants offer naval forces high-end capabilities and an ocean-going international presence. However, it is the smaller vessels patrolling the economic exclusive zones (EEZ), coastal and littoral areas and the rivers of countries in Southeast Asia that conduct day-to-day operations.
It is these patrol ships that offer the most persistent presence in home waters offering an essential level of maritime security that is critical in protecting a key part of a country’s economy. Although it is the big warships that get the most headlines, it is the patrol ships that do the constabulary operations undertaking search and rescue missions, pollution control missions, protecting maritime resources and combatting crimes on the water ranging from illegal unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing to drug trafficking, human trafficking, and terrorism among others.
Countries in Southeast Asia possess a range of smaller ships for littoral, riverine and EEZ patrolling and these are spread across naval and coastguards forces, which are both expanding to address increased maritime security concerns.
The Philippines
The Philippines Navy (PN) and Philippines Coast Guard (PCG) have split maritime security responsibilities between them. While the PN has a range of larger frigates and corvettes for offshore work, it has a growing Littoral Combat Force (LCF) for inshore, riverine and EEZ protection duties. The PN’s latest acquisitions for its LCF are three Alvarez-class littoral patrol vessels that are second-hand former U.S. Navy Cyclone-class inshore patrol ships. These were transferred in March 2023 and are the largest vessels in the PN’s LCF at 167 feet (51m) long displacing some 357 tons and fitted with three Bushmaster 25mm cannon and 40mm grenade launchers.
These ships will be reinforced by a new class of nine Acero-class patrol gunboats that are being built and delivered by Israel Shipyards. These ships are 104ft (32m) long and displace about 95 tonnes but are well armed with the Rafael Spike NLOS missile and the Northrop Grumman Mk44 30mm Bushmaster cannon. The Acero-class will replace the PN’s ageing Tomas Batilo-class. Four ships have been delivered so far with the first pair commissioned in November 2022 and a second pair commissioned in May 2023. The next five ships are due to be built by the PN’s state-run shipyard Cavite Naval Yard under a technology transfer agreement.
The PN’s Littoral Combat Force also includes two Navarette-class coastal patrol ships, which are a pair of ex-U.S. Coast Guard Point-class cutters that were transferred in 1999 and 2001. But the bulk of the LCF comprises the 22 Andrada-class patrol craft that were procured in the 1990s, some built in the US and others assembled in the Philippines. Upgrades are planned for the craft to enhance their capabilities.
The PN also operates 12 Multi-Purpose Assault Craft (MPAC) that were built in three batches from 2009 by Lung Teh Shipyard in Taiwan for the first three MkI variants, and Philippine company Propmech for the three MkII and six MkIII variants. The last batch of six MPAC were delivered in 2017 and 2019 doubling the size of the MPAC fleet. MPACs are often part of the LCF. A total of 42 are expected. The PN also has four Type 966Y patrol boats donated by the Chinese government.
Meanwhile the PCG has recently received a boost with the commissioning of two Teresa Magbanua-class Multi-Role Response Vessels (MRRV) in 2022. Built in Japan by Mitsubishi Heavy Engineering the ships are 318ft (97m) long displacing some 2,600 tons and are based on the Kunigami-class Patrol Vessel of the Japan Coast Guard. The MRRV project was funded by a load from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) topped up with funds from the Philippines government.
JICA also provided financial support to the value of $119 million (Y18.732 billion) for the delivery of 10 144ft (44m) long 321 ton Parola-class, also referred to as MRRVs, built by Japan Marine United under a 2013 deal and were commissioned between 2016-2018. These represent the workhorses of the PCG fleet and conduct law enforcement operations. Another recent acquisition is the OPV, BRP Gabriela Silang (8301), which is an 274ft (83.6m) long ship built by French shipyard OCEA and based on its OPV-270 Mk II design and commissioned in 2020. As one of the larger helicopter-capable ships in the PCG inventory it has been used to counter coercion by Chinese vessels in the South China Sea.
These newer ships are reinforced by two classes of older ships built in Australia for search and rescue duties and series of Swift patrol craft for inshore and riverine duties.
Indonesia
As an archipelagic country with thousands of small islands, Indonesia has significant littoral and riverine security challenges. Responsibility for maritime security is divided between the Indonesian Navy (Tentara Nasional Indonesia-Angkatan Laut, TNI-AL) and the Indonesian Maritime Security Agency (Badan Koordinasi Keamanan Laut, BAKAMLA).
Due to pressure from Chinese maritime forces and disputes over maritime boundaries in the South China Sea, as well as an ongoing need to combat maritime crime and preserve sovereignty in its waters there is an urgent requirement to expand Indonesia’s littoral forces. The TNI-AL is set to acquire two Thaon Di Revel-class offshore patrol vessels from Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri. A contract worth $1.26 billion (€1.18 billion) was signed in March 2024 for a pair of 470ft (143m) long 4,900 tonnes PPA-class ships off the company’s production line, which had been due to be delivered to the Italian Navy.
There is also a project started in 2021 for the local construction of two 295ft (90m) OPVs built at the PT Daya Radar Utama shipyard in Lampung, Surabaya. The ships are 2,100 tonnes and will have an Oto Melara 76mm Super Rapid gun main armament, Rheinmetall 35mm Millennium cannon and Exocet anti-ship missiles. The ships will be fitted with the Advent CMS from Turkish defence company Havelsan.
These are large vessels however and are likely to undertaken overseas missions beyond the Indonesian littorals. The TNI-AL smaller patrol boat fleet is extensive and consists of several classes of ship ranging from small patrol boats to larger patrol ships. The largest are the six PC-60 Dorang-class patrol ships. At 200ft (61.2m) long and 27.8ft (8.5m) wide the ships displace 520 tonnes and are armed with the 40mm Marlin cannon and two 12.7mm machine guns.
The first pair KRI Doran (874) and KRI Bawal (875) were built by PT Caputra Mitra Sejati (PT CMS) and commissioned in 2022. A third, KRI Tuna (876) was built at PT Karimun Angurah Sejati and entered service in September 2023. The fourth, KRI Marlin (877), was built at PT Palindo Marine and was commissioned in December 2023. A final pair are being built by PT CMS, the first of which is to be launched imminently and completed in November 2024.
The PC-60 are similar in size to the TNI-AL’s Sampari-class KCR-60 fast attack craft but with fewer high-end sensors and armaments and are a follow-on to the FPB-57 class of patrol ship that are designed to focus on constabulary operations in the littorals.
However, the main expansion of the littoral fleet is through the more extensive PC-40M procurement programme which aims to procure up to 42 new ships. Also known as the Pari-class the PC-40M vessels have been under construction since 2013 by PT Palindo, PT CMS, PT Citra Shipyard and PT Karimum Anugrah Sejati. At 147ft (45m) long 23ft (7.9m) wide and displacing about 200 tonnes the ships are fitted with a 30mm cannon. So far 19 have entered service with a further two under construction at PT Citra Shipyard, of which the first of has completed construction and is due to enter service imminently. Local news reports state the cost of the PC-40M ships is about $11 million.
PT Citra is also building a further two KAL-28 class patrol ships. Over 30 of these are already in service and the KAL-28 variants make up about half of the 70-odd 92ft (28m) patrol boats in TNI-AL service that of differing ages. The latest KAL-28 patrol boats are fitted with a 20mm cannon. Each ship is worth about $3.5 million.
Elsewhere at the small end of the scale the TNI-AL has a dozen small unarmed 40-52ft (12-16m) patrol boats and about 28 59ft (18m) combat boats. It also has about 30-40 boats that are about 98-131ft (30-40m) long across six different classes that are rapidly ageing.
The BAKAMLA was established by Indonesia in 2014 to provide an organisation focussed on improving maritime security and provide additional constabulary, search and rescue and EEZ patrolling capabilities. It now possesses six 157ft (48m) long vessels, three 262ft (80m) long OPVs and most significantly the 360ft (110m) long, 51ft (15.5m) wide OPV KN Tanjung Datu (1101). Displacing 2,400 tonnes it was delivered in 2018 and is designed to confront some of the larger Chinese Coast Guard ships that are being used for coercion in the South China Sea.
Malaysia
The Malaysian government created the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) or Malaysian Coast Guard in 2006 for the patrolling of littoral waters and to preserve maritime security in the EEZ. It works with the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) but is more specifically focussed on constabulary tasks.
The RMN is usually focussed on wider regional naval engagements and deployments and operates submarines and frigates for this purpose. For littoral defence the RMN has four classes of ageing gunboats comprising some 18 vessels but nothing for longer durations constabulary missions. Whilst it does have four 226ft (69m) long 700 tonnes Keris-class Littoral Mission Ships (LMS) that it procured from China for $247 million (MYR1.17 billion) and were commissioned from 2020-22 the rest of the surface fleet is comprised of larger ocean-going warships.
There are plans for additional LMS but with a design sourced from another supplier. A budget of $508 million (MYR2.4 billion) means that a more advanced vessel is desired with potential options for a 229ft (70m) long vessel include designs from Swiftships, Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding (DSNS), Fassmer and Preston.
To supplement its numbers the RMN has re-commissioned two 1960s-vintage Kris-class patrol boat that had originally left service 20 years ago. The pair named KD Sri Sabah (46) and KD Sri Sarawak (48) returned to service on 19 January 2024 following a refit at the MSET Shipbuilding Corporation valued at $3.8 million (MYR18 million). The 103ft (31.4m) long ships displace 111 tonnes and have a 40mm Bofors main gun. They will be stationed in Eastern Sabah reinforcing maritime security following an incursion by militants from the Southern Philippines in 2013.
This indicates the difficulty the RMN has in providing maritime security across a wide region that includes mainland Western Malaysia, across the South China Sea and into the East Malaysian states Borneo – Sarawak and Sabah.
This is where the MMEA steps in. Malaysian shipyard TH Heavy Engineering (THHE) is building three 272ft (83m) long Tun Fatimah-class OPVs based on the OPV1800 design from Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding. The $159.8 million (MYR738.9 million) contract was signed with THHE in January 2017, but the project has been painfully slow. Although due for delivery in mid-2020, the first-of-class KM Tun Fatimah was only launched in October 2022 and was finally delivered on 2 January 2024.
It is not clear when the next two vessels will be delivered. Displacing 2,600 tonnes, the OPVs are helicopter capable and with an Aselsan’s SMASH 30mm gun the Tun Fatimah-class will allow the MMEA to better protect Malaysia’s maritime territory in the South China Sea.
In the meantime the mainstay of the MMEA force uses four OPVs procured from overseas. Two transferred from the JCG and two from the RMN. An additional ship is due to be transferred from the U.S. Coast Guard. The ex-JCG vessels are the 300ft (92m) long KM Pekan (9203) and the 285ft (87m) long KM Arau (8704). Pekan is a former Ojika-class OPV displacing 1,900 tonnes, while Arau displaces about 1,000 tonnes. Both joined the MMEA in 2017.
The ex-RMN vessels are a pair of Langkawi-class OPVs (formerly Musytari-class) that were the initial ships transferred to the MMEA in 2006 to give the Coastguard its first platforms. Also in 2006, the MMEA received the 131ft (40m) long 280 tonne KM Marlin, a former Nippon Trust Foundation ship from Japan. To add to this the MMEA has stated that it might take delivery of an ex-US Coast Guard cutter. This is expected to be a Reliance-class Medium Endurance cutter in a transfer worth about $9.2 million.
Elsewhere the MMEA has a large fleet of inshore patrol vessels lead by the class of six 147ft (45m) long 300 tonnes Bagan Datuk-class ships. Built by Destini Berhad to a design from Fassmer the six IPVs are fitted with a 30mm SMASH RSW and were commissioned from 2017-21. It also has two 125ft (38.2m) long 134 tons former Australian Customs and Border Protection Service Bay-class patrol ships that were transferred in 2015 and serve in the MMEA as the Perwira-class.
The remainder of IPVs in the MMEA service comprise some 60 unarmed vessels of different sizes from 128ft (39m) long and below that were moved into the MMEA organisation from the Royal Malaysian Police, Royal Malaysian Customs, fisheries and marine departments.
Singapore
The Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) possesses a mix of ships designed for maritime security and defence of its littoral areas. As an island nation located at a strategic chokepoint in Southeast Asia there is a heightened need for maritime surveillance and a rapid response capability. The RSN has eight 262ft (80m) long 1,200 tones Independence-class Littoral Mission Vessels (LMVs) that were built by ST Engineering and delivered from 2017-2020. The class was designed to be lean manned and to conduct HADR and other multirole operations in the littorals.
The LMVs were designed to replace the older Fearless-class ships, but four of the RSN’s original six Fearless-class vessels have been refurbished and brought back into service as the Sentinel-class maritime security and response vessels (MSRVs). These were returned to service from 2021-22 and are the RSN’s maritime security and response flotilla (MSRF). Meanwhile the remaining two Fearless-class have been re-commissioned with the Royal Navy of Brunei as KDB As-Siddiq and KDB Al-Faruq following a transfer in 2023.
However, there are plans for new ships for the MSRF. A contract was signed between the Singaporean Ministry of Defence (MoD) and German shipyard Fassmer in November 2023 for four ships based on the company’s OPV 80 design that is used for the German Bundespolizei Potsdam-class. At 282ft (86m) long and helicopter-capable the new OPVs will be much larger than the 180ft (55m) long MRSVs they will replace offering the MSRF increased endurance and surveillance capability. However, the BAE 57mm main gun for the new OPVs is smaller than the 76mm guns on the MRSVs. OPV deliveries are expected from 2028, which is two years later than expected.
Vietnam
The Vietnamese Navy is focussed much more on high-end warships operating Kilo-class submarines, frigates and range of corvettes, ageing missile boats and patrol boats so it is the Vietnamese Coast Guard that takes on the majority of maritime security operations in the littoral and river regions of the country.
The VCG possesses a substantial fleet of 110 patrol ships across 13 different classes. Most are built locally but there are some classes procured from the U.S., the Netherlands and Japan. The largest vessels include two ex-USCG Hamilton-class cutters and four 2,500 ton DN 2000 OPVs built by Dutch shipbuilder Damen to its OPV 9014 design.
The latest additions are expected to be six TT-1500 Aso-class patrol vessels used by the Japan Coast Guard (JCG). The JCG variants are 259ft (79m) long 1,000 ton helicopter capable ships fitted with a 40mm cannon, but the VCG variants are expected to be slightly larger than this.
JICA has funded the Aso-class programme for Vietnam and has stated that the cost of the export is valued at $276 million (Y42,542 million) which includes a 40-year Japanese ODA Loan of $238 million (Y36,626 million). JICA said that the six ships would be delivered by October 2025 and project completion due in October 2026.
Thailand
The Royal Thai Navy’s Gulf Patrol Squadron consists of two Krabi-class OPVs that displace almost 2,000 tonnes and are fitted with a 76mm main gun and the Harpoon anti-ship missile. It also has two Pattani-class OPVs of about 1,400 tonnes each that were built in China that also have a 76mm gun.
Elsewhere its Patrol Squadron is formed from its medium-sized patrol boat fleet and includes three Chonburi-class patrol ships that are 198ft (60.4m) long and displace about 450 tonnes that were built in Italy by Cantiere Navale Breda and host a 76mm gun; six Sattahip-class PSMM Mk5 multi-purpose patrol boat class gunboats and three Hua Hin-class gunboats.
An earlier effort to build a new class of M58 gunboats at Marsun Shipyards to replace the ageing Hua Hin-class gunboats has not been completed. Only one 190ft 58m) long 520 ton ship, HTMS Leamsing, was delivered in 2016 and remaining three planned were not built. However, the latest addition to the RTN’s small patrol boat fleet are two Tor 997 patrol boats T997 and T998, that were built at Marsun Shipyards and commissioned in September 2023. At 134ft (41.4m) long and displacing 223 tons they are reportedly fitted with a variant of the Russian AK-306 30mm cannon. The pair will join two earlier classes of Tor patrol ships totalling ships that entered service from 2007-11.
The RTN has also taken delivery of two M36 inshore patrol craft. Built by Marsun Shipyards, the pair of 36m-long craft T114 and T115 joined the fleet in March 2021 and join three similar vessels delivered in 2014. The RTN already has 23 M21 inshore patrol craft delivered from 2013-18. The RTN Riverine Patrol Boat Squadron also operates a large number of small speed boat style craft including 39 ageing 1960s-vintage Patrol Boat-Riverine (PBR) used by the U.S. in Vietnam. These are being replaced by a mix of vessels including the latest four L.125 high speed patrol boats delivered by Marsun Shipyard in 2023 and six M10 Mk II and three Mk I Special Operations Craft – Riverine (SOC-R) delivered in 2016 and 2012 respectively. Marsun is also building high speed coastal vessels for Thailand’s Center for the Protection of National Maritime Interests and Customs.
by Tim Fish
