South Korean coastguard receives additional Tae Geuk-class patrol boats
The Korea Coast Guard (KCG)
has taken delivery of at least six of eight 500-tonne Tae Geuk-class patrol vessels
it ordered from Busan-based shipbuilders Kangnam Corporation and Hanjin Heavy Industries Corporation in late 2016.
The patrol boats will supplement the KCG’s existing fleet of 15 Tae Geuk vessels.
Two of three being built at Kangnam’s yard (with pennant numbers 518 and 523) were commissioned on 25 July and 5 December 2019,
Hanjin Heavy Industries Corporation,
carried out a mass launching of the remaining five hulls on 30 April 2019 at its shipyard in Yeongdo, Busan,
four of the hulls (519, 520, 521, 522) were already outfitting in the water.
According to the KCG,
the five hulls being built by Hanjin
are one-for-one replacements for 30-year-old patrol vessels in the 250 tonne and 300 tonne categories.
The eight new Tae Geuk-class vessels
are slightly longer, heavier, and faster than the first 15 of the class, which were built between 2008 and 2012.
The latest variants have an overall
length of 63.2 m,
a beam of 9.1 m,
a draft of 2.6 m,
a displacement of 640 tonnes fully loaded.
Powered by
four MJP waterjets,
two MTU 16V 4000 M90,
two MTU 12 V 1163 TB93 diesel engines,
the vessel can attain a top speed of more than 35 kt.
Jane’s 360