The Japan Coast Guard (JCG) dispatched three members of its Mobile Cooperation Team (MCT) to provide capacity-building support to the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) during a Multinational Vessel Boarding Officer Course jointly held with the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan from May 14 to 27.
The MCT is a special team that provides foreign coast guard agencies with technical support on maritime safety and security. MCT members participated as instructors in the training course and trained PCG officers on arresting techniques.
In addition to PCG members, officers from the Philippine National Police, the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency, the Thai Maritime Enforcement Command Center, and the Vietnam Department of Fisheries Surveillance also participated in the training course.
The training course forms part of U.S.-Japan joint efforts named “SAPPHIRE”. This was the third time for the USCG and the JCG to conduct a joint training for foreign coast guard agencies since the signing of the annex of the Memorandum of Cooperation last year.
The JCG will continue to cooperate with coast guard agencies from other countries to realize a Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) based on the rule of law, and will engage actively to contribute to developing coast guard agencies in the Indo-Pacific region.
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