ABOARD THE BRP DAVAO DEL SUR — The BRP Gregorio Velasquez (AGR-702) will be the sole ship committed to help Filipino scientists in conducting further research off the 13-million-hectare Philippine Rise.
This was disclosed by Defense Undersecretary Cardozo Luna during the first anniversary of the renaming of the Philippine Rise in Casiguran off Aurora province on May 16.
Luna said this is in line with President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s order that all available support be provided to Filipino scientists tasked to conduct additional studies off the Philippine Rise.
“I understand (that the) the BRP Gregorio Velasquez is already here. She is our research ship. I will tell Secretary Delfin Lorenzana that I am committing her to you and you can use her anytime,” Luna said in Filipino.
The ship is the sole Navy asset capable of conducting oceanographic and hydrographic surveys.
The BRP Gregorio Velasquez (formerly the R/V Melville) is one of the two ex-American ships pledged by then President Barack Obama during his visit to the Philippines during the APEC Leaders Summit in November 2015.
The other ship is the USCGC Boutwell which is now renamed to BRP Andres Bonifacio (FF-17) – the third Hamilton-class cutter of the Philippine Navy (PN).
The BRP Gregorio Velasquez was commissioned into the PN service in June 2016. In 1976, then R/V Melville was used in the movie “King Kong” starring Jessica Lange because of its Hypoid propulsion drive capability to move sideways. This type of drive is used on research vessels for station-keeping in the ocean over drill and coring sites.
As per policy, auxiliary research vessels are to be named after national scientists, hence her namesake, Dr. Gregorio Velasquez – a pioneer in Philippine physiology.
Velasquez, who was named an academician in 1978 and conferred as National Scientist in 1982.
He was also conferred with a Distinguished Science Medal and Diploma of Honor from the Republic of the Philippines (1956), the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship (1956-57), Men of Science, Division of Biological Sciences in 1969, World’s Who’s Who in Sciences in 1970, and the Republic of the Philippines Cultural Heritage award in 1972.
Activities for the first year anniversary of the renaming of the Philippine Rise started with a send-off ceremony for the marine scientists by President Duterte at the mouth of Casiguran Bay and the signing of Presidential Proclamation declaring Philippine Rise as a Protected Marine Source Area.
These events were highlighted by an on-deck flag raising ceremony at BRP Tarlac (LD-601), simultaneous with the laying of underwater flag marker at 47 feet below sea level (shallowest part of Benham Bank). The activities were documented by an underwater video conducted by the geologists of Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Mines and Geosciences Bureau using a remotely-operated vehicle.
This was followed by casting of the first buoy off Philippine Rise.
The one-ton buoy was made of fully urethane foam with a stainless body attached to a five-ton concrete anchor by a 40 mm fully ethyline rope.
It was designed in Malabon but was fabricated in San Fernando, Pampanga for 10 days from April 2, 2018.
A transponder was also attached to determine its exact location, costing the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources a total of PHP85,000. (Priam Nepomuceno/PNA)
