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Korea will early next year dispatch state-of-the-art 5,000 t-class KDX-II destroyer Gang Gam-chan to Somali waters, where a spate of hijackings of ships have led to Korean sailors spending months in captivity and hefty ransom payments.
A military source on Wednesday said Seoul decided to dispatch the Gang Gam-chan to the lawless region and is minded to put the country¡¯s six KDX-II destroyers into a four- to five-month rotation for the mission.
Military authorities plan to send the gunboat to Somalia around late January after they submit a relevant motion to the National Assembly in December.
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The KDX-II destroyer Gang Gam-chan
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The Gang Gam-chan will carry Navy underwater demolition team/sea air land (UDT/SEAL) special forces who can carry out underwater demolition and defensive operations against pirates. The destroyer will reinforce its close-range defense weapons and systems, including 12.7 mm machine guns, to prepare for attacks from pirates, who typically use small boats.
The Navy is looking at receiving supplies for the vessel from Japanese and U.S. logistics ships operating in the waters instead of sending its own.
The Gang Gam-chan, which was commissioned for combat deployment in September last year, is 149.5 m long and 17.4 m wide. It is equipped with 127 mm guns, Sea Sparrow surface-to-air missiles, Korean-made Sea Star anti-ship missiles, torpedoes, and Lynx anti-submarine helicopters, with a crew of about 200 on board.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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