Philippines Accepts Bids From Indian & French Firms For Frigate Competition

An Indian company has been invited to compete in an international tender to supply frigate for the Philippines Navy. 

India's state-owned Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers, Ltd. and STX France, SA from Europe joined the P18-billion project to boost the country's maritime forces with new warships, Navy technical working group head Commodore Roland Mercado said in a state news report on Thursday.

The Philippines Department of National Defense (DND) has accepted the motions for reconsideration of two foreign shipbuilding firms that seek to join the bidding for Philippine Navy's frigate program, a Navy official said.

The two firms were excluded from the project due to an insufficiency in documents but since reconsidered by the agency's Special Bidding Awards Committee after renewing their application, according to the Philippine Star.

Competitors include Navantia Sepi (RTR Ventures) of Spain, and South Korean contractors STX Offshore and Shipbuilding, Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Co. Ltd. and Hyundai Heavy Industries, Inc. which have passed the first stage of the bidding process.

Mercado told the Philippine Star  that Defense officials are now conducting technical discussions with Garden Reach and STX France. The discussions will aid DND to draft final technical specifications of the required frigates, Mercado explained.

He added that the committee was also tasked to closely scrutinize the hull, power plant, communications systems and weapons systems in the frigate designs submitted. The bidders were given five working days to present their concept.