HD Hyundai Heavy Industries launches third Philippine offshore patrol vessel

HD Hyundai Heavy Industries launched the Rajah Humabon, the third offshore patrol vessel (OPV) built for the Philippine Navy, at a ceremony held Tuesday at its Ulsan headquarters.

The event was attended by Philippine Navy Chief of Staff Jose MA. Ambrosio Ezpeleta, Philippine Ambassador to South Korea Bernadette Therese Fernandez, Joint Chiefs of Staff Vice Chairman Rommel P. Roldan, and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries President Joo Won-ho, along with other officials from the two countries.

The vessel takes its name from Rajah Humabon, a 16th-century chieftain who ruled Cebu island and is credited with introducing Christianity to the Philippines. It is scheduled for delivery to the Philippine Navy in February.

The ship measures 94 meters in length and 14 meters in width, displaces 2,400 tons, and cruises at 15 knots (about 28 kilometers per hour) with a range of 5,500 nautical miles (10,186 kilometers). It is equipped with advanced weapons systems including a 76mm main gun, a 30mm secondary gun, a decoy launching system, search radar and electro-optical tracking equipment.

HD Hyundai Heavy Industries delivered the first OPV in the series, the Rajah Sulaiman, in February and the second, the Rajah Lakandula, in June. The company plans to deliver the follow-on fourth through sixth vessels sequentially by 2028.

The shipbuilder has secured orders for 12 vessels from the Philippines since winning its first contract for a Philippine Navy frigate in 2016 — comprising four frigates, two corvettes and six offshore patrol vessels.

Building on its Philippine export experience, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries is pursuing a "trans-Pacific belt" strategy to expand into global markets spanning the Philippines, Peru, Saudi Arabia and the United States, advancing efforts to establish overseas partnership networks, build local construction systems and standardize technology-transfer packages.