The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) has received an uncrewed surface vessel (USV) from the Global Maritime Crime Program of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
With this, the PCG becomes the first maritime security organization in Southeast Asia to acquire an unmanned surface vessel capable of collecting data from both the air and the sea.
According to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), a USV can be programmed or controlled by operators at sea to carry out pre-planned missions.
On Thursday, the USV successfully completed its harbor acceptance test and sea acceptance trial in Subic, Zambales.
A turnover ceremony for the USV was originally scheduled to take place at the PCG headquarters in Manila this Friday but was canceled due to a scheduling conflict. The uncrewed surface vessel is currently stationed at the PCG headquarters.
Uncrewed Surface Vessels (USVs) are advanced maritime technologies designed for autonomous or remote-controlled missions at sea.
They can gather crucial data for maritime security, environmental monitoring, and research without the need for onboard personnel, making them highly effective for operations in potentially dangerous or hard-to-reach areas.