The Taiwanese Authorities have Donated a Patrol Vessel to the Philippines

23 September 2026

According to the VesselFinder, a Philippine-flagged vessel named BLINGNO.1 departed from Kaohsiung Port for testing on September 16, this vessel is suspected to be the  decommissioned Lienchiang-class patrol vessel from Taiwan's Coast Guard Administration (photo: Guancha)

A decommissioned 500-ton patrol and rescue vessel is revealing a clear shift in the Taiwan authorities' policy toward the Philippines.

Taiwan's Coast Guard recently confirmed that it has donated a decommissioned patrol and rescue vessel to the Philippines, stating that this move follows past practices of donating vessels to the Marshall Islands, Palau, and Tuvalu, and that the vessel will be used for cooperation in marine research and humanitarian relief. The ship is currently registered as a Philippine government vessel and is undergoing refurbishment and sea trials in Kaohsiung.

The Lienchiang (CG 125) is a retired 500-ton and length overall 61.02 meters, patrol and rescue vessel of the Taiwan Coast Guard Administration (CGA) that was commissioned in 2008 and decommissioned in 2023 (photo: Wiki)

Taiwan authorities have not confirmed the ship's specific identity. Initial media reports pointed to the "Lienchiang Ship," but some netizens later believed it to be the "Kinmen Ship," which is of the same class. However, it is more certain that it is "a 500-ton decommissioned patrol and rescue ship."

The WPS Foundation formally donated a 61-meter training ship to the PCG (Photo: WPS Foundation)

More crucial than the donation of the ship is that, just in 2025, a Taiwanese fishing boat was detained by a Philippine government vessel. Why, then, did the Taiwanese authorities begin discussing "jointly maintaining maritime security in the Indo-Pacific" with the Philippines a year later, and now even donate a patrol vessel?

(Guancha)

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