South Korea-donated Navy ship to arrive in Philippines in July

Photo by Philippine Navy

BUSAN, South Korea — A Pohang-class corvette donated by the South Korean government to the Philippines will finally come home in July.

The repair and rehabilitation work for BRP Conrado Yap (PS-39) is expected to be finished by June, Navy spokesperson Capt. Jonathan Zata said Friday.

“The ship will sail and arrive to the country in July 2019,” he said.

PS-39 is former Pohang-class corvette Chungju (PCC-272) that served the Republic of Korea Navy from 1987 to 2016.

“This ship will greatly enhance our fleet’s anti-air warfare, anti-surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare capabilities. Its armaments include 76mm Oto Melara gun and equipped with a sonar,” Zata said.

Navy chief Vice Adm. Robert Empedrad and Philippine Fleet commander Rear Adm. Giovanni Bacordo on Wednesday visited Jinhae naval base in Busan where the ship is located.

Photo by Philippine Navy

They were briefed by Capt. Marc Buena, the incoming commanding officer BRP Conrado Yap.

The Filipino crew that will serve the Philippine Navy acquisition left the Philippines last April for Busan. They are currently undergoing operational and warfare trainings for 13 weeks.

The ship is 88.3 meters long, with a beam of 10 meters and draft of 2.9 meters. It has a crew of 118 personnel and can stay for 20 days at sea.

It has a speed of 25 knots to a distance of 4,000 nautical miles. (Editor: Katherine G. Adraneda)