TAIPEI: A new 1,000-ton vessel was commissioned by the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) in Kaohsiung to boost the nation’s capability for sea patrols and rescue missions here the other day.
The launching ceremony of the vessel, named the “Taoyuan” was held at a shipyard of the Jong Shyn Shipbuilding Group in Kaohsiung, Southern Taiwan.
The ship, serial number CG132, is the second of the total of four new 1,000-ton vessels the CGA plans to enlist to the administration to beef up its patrol capabilities.
The first of the total four vessels, the “Miaoli” was commissioned to the CGA last November.
The vessel, made of steel and aluminum alloy, is 87.6 meters long and 12.8 meters wide, with a maximum speed of 24 knots and a cruising range of 6,000 nautical miles.
It will be equipped with 20 mm T75 guns. A more advanced high-pressure water canon with a range of over 100 meters is also equipped on the vessel to facilitate the CGA’s routine patrol and occasional fire-fighting missions.
The ship will be deployed under the CGA Coastal Patrol Directorate General’s Northern Coastal Patrol Office to be responsible for patrols in waters off Northern Taiwan, the CGA said.
The remaining two vessels, the Taitung (台東) and the Pingtung (屏東), are scheduled to be commissioned next June, it noted.
