MANILA, Philippines – Two Philippine Navy ships that had to abort their homeward voyage from India are back at sea, and will be stopping by Sri Lanka to pick up more stranded Filipinos before heading for Subic, the Navy said late Wednesday, May 27.

The landing dock BRP Davao del Sur (LD602) and the patrol ship BRP Ramon Alcaraz (PS16) pulled out of the Port of Cochin in India on Wednesday. The Davao del Sur is ferrying home 19 Filipinos who were stranded in India because of the coronavirus pandemic, as well as 200,000 face masks to be donated by a Filipino businessman.

The armed and nimble Ramon Alcaraz is sailing in convoy with the transport vessel as its escort.

Both ships will dock briefly at the Port of Colombo in Sri Lanka on Friday, May 29, to pick up 12 more stranded Filipino tourists and workers. They will join the other 19 repatriates on the Davao del Sur. Each of the total 31 repatriates will stay in separate cabins on the ship, and will be monitored 24 hours every day by the onboard medical team.

The two vessels first left the Port of Cochin for the Philippines on the night of May 7. Hours later, the Ramon Alcaraz’s main engine room caught fire, and it had to return to port. The Davao del Sur went on with the voyage.

Then on May 16, Super Cyclone Amphan started forming in the Bay of Bengal, and the Davao del Sur, too, had to turn back. The storm went on to ravage Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, and parts of India.

The Indian Navy helped repair the Ramon Alcaraz, which had sustained damage to its main propulsion and auxiliary systems, and generators. Two Filipino sailors suffered second degree burns from the mishap.

The Philippines and India have a defense cooperation agreement.

The United States Naval Sea Systems Command will also check the Ramon Alcaraz when it arrives in Subic.

Both ships arrived in India on April 29 from Oman, where they were deployed in January supposedly to help repatriate Filipinos from the Middle East. A US airstrike that killed an Iranian military general in Iraq at the time threatened to plunge the region into increased violence.

Tensions in the Middle East have since cooled and repatriation became unnecessary.

The BRP Ramon Alcaraz is one of 3 Hamilton-class cutters acquired from the US Coast Guard. It was commissioned to the Philippine Fleet in 2013. – Rappler.com