TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Taiwan Coast Guard Administration (CGA) on Friday (April 22) received its second 4,000-ton frigate, the Hsinchu, which will be deployed in the CGA’s Northern Flotilla Sector.
A handover ceremony was held at CSBC Corp.’s Kaohsiung shipyard and was overseen by Ocean Affairs Council Chairman Li Chung-wei (李仲威) and CSBC Corporation Chairman Cheng Wen-lung, the Liberty Times reported. The Hsinchu is the second of four planned CGA frigates and is equipped with three high-pressure water cannons that are able to shoot at targets up to 120 meters away.
The vessel also has the same sophisticated medical equipment as a field hospital, allowing it to perform humanitarian rescue missions. Its side thrusters and stabilizers make it able to maneuver in rough seas and withstand level 10 winds on the Beaufort scale, and it has a maximum operational range of 18,520 km.
The CGA has been steadily expanding its fleet of ships in the past two years. It recently took delivery of the fourth and fifth of 12 planned Anping-class offshore patrol vessels on April 8.
