The Philippine Navy (PN) confirmed Tuesday, Sept. 2, that the guided-missile frigate BRP Antonio Luna (FF-151) incurred minor damage while participating in the Maritime Training Activity (MTA) MALPHI LAUT 2025, a bilateral training exercise with the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN).

BRP Antonio Luna was maneuvering into a narrow space at the Lumut Naval Base in Lumut, Perak, Malaysia shortly after the harbor phase of the exercise on Aug. 27 when it “sustained a superficial damage” to the outermost portion of its freeboard on the left side of the ship, according to PN spokesperson Capt. Marisa Arlene Martinez.

“When she was carefully maneuvering in a narrow space, and I would like to highlight a narrow space, unfortunately, it incurred superficial damage to… [the] outermost portion of the surface of the freeboard and that is on the left side. In naval terms, it is from the waterline going to the gunwale (upper edge of a ship’s side),” she said.

Martinez did not specify as to where the PN ship bumped into but she attributed the accident to “uncontrollable forces” such as the weather, wind, and water current.

These are just one of the many risks, operational risks that a commanding officer or a ship would always incur, whether you're a civilian ship or a merchant ship,” she said.

An assessment was launched by the PN to determine what really transpired during the incident. Martinez, however, clarified that it did not affect the mission-readiness of the ship.

“Everything is operational. In fact, it was able to participate in all at-sea events and no one was injured,” she noted.

When asked if officials would be reprimanded, particularly the commanding officer of the ship, Martinez said it would depend on the outcome of the assessment to be conducted by the technical officers of the Navy.

“Usually, if there's an incident whether it's minor or major, there will always be an assessment and investigation that will be conducted,” Martinez said. “We'll just wait for the facts and the analysis.”

BRP Antonio Luna is now on her way home as the exercise had already been concluded on Aug. 29.

During the MTA MALPHI LAUT, the PN performed a series of drills with the RMN including joint maneuvering and gunnery exercises, as well as personnel exchanges designed to improve coordination between both navies, professional exchanges and simulator training aimed at strengthening operational planning and command capabilities, Fast Rope Insertion and Extraction System (FRIES) operations, close-quarters combat, marksmanship, team leader drills, obstacle and live-fire courses, and high-risk vessel boarding exercises, and Action Speed Tactical Trainer, gaining hands-on operator training and simulated wargaming.

Experts from both navies also exchanged insights on maritime domain awareness (MDA) and amphibious operations to strengthen joint approaches to emerging maritime challenges.