Kaohsiung, Dec. 30 (CNA) A "Chinchiang-class" coastal patrol fleet was commissioned on Thursday at the Tsoying naval base in the southern Taiwan county of Kaohsiung, in a ceremony attended by more than 100 naval officers.
The nine patrol vessels commissioned on Thursday will be joined in May 2000 by two further ships currently being built by the state-run China Shipbuilding Corp. (CSC), naval authorities said.
The locally produced "Chinchiang-class" patrol craft -- weighing more than 500 tons, measuring 61 meters in length, and with a beam of nine meters -- are especially suited for information gathering and patrol missions and comply fully with the navy's requirements, the authorities noted.
The fast patrol ships will be equipped with search and sonar systems, as well as domestically developed "Hsiungfeng" missiles, according to the authorities. (By Flor Wang)
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