Baird Maritime reports on Japanese efforts to boost Maritime Security capabilities of nations of South East Asia. Check out their report. Below I provide some pictures and informational links.
The Japanese are assisting in two ways. They are providing older ships from their own inventory, and they are providing very long term, low interest loans for ships built in Japanese shipyards which helps their ship building industry.
The US could do something similar. Yes we have passed along several older cutters, but the US Coast Guard holds on to ships so long, only very limited life remains. We could help our allies, help our shipbuilding industry, and have a more up to date Coast Guard, by limiting our own use of the ships to no more than 30 years and then passing them on to our friends before they get too old to be viable in the hands of navies or coast guards where labor for maintenance is cheaper and new ships prohibitively expensive.
Japan Coast Guard(JCG) Aso class cutter Dewa PL42. 79.0 m (259 ft 2 in) oa. Six similar ships to be built for Vietnam, financed by a 40 year loan. Photo credit: Wikipedia. Sizuru~commonswiki assumed (ba,ed on copyright claims).
According to the report, unlike the Aso class, the Vietnamese ships will have a helo deck.
Rendering of a 94-metre offshore patrol vessel, two of which are slated for the Philippine Coast Guard (Photo: Mitsubishi Shipbuilding)
Japan Coast Guard patrol vessel PL82 Nagura, a sister ship of the former Japan Coast Guard cutter Erimo, now the Malaysian CG cutter KM Pekan. Entered service 1991, 2,006 tons fl, 87 meter, 91.40 m (299 ft 10 in) oa, Photo from Wikipedia Commons, by Yasu
Japan Coast Guard Cutter Oki PL-1 now the Malaysian Coast Guard cutter KM Arau completed 1989, 1500 tons fl, 87 m (285 ft 5 in)
Japanese Fishery Protection Vessel Hakurei Maru transferred to Indonesia.