TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – When a minesweeper retires next week after decades of service, the Navy will be looking to replace it with uncrewed vessels, reports said Saturday.

The Yung Yang minesweeper will have served 72 years, while the Ta Kang ocean tug completed 81 years in the Navy, the Liberty Times reported. Both ships are scheduled to end their service by July 1.

The aim is to replace them with uncrewed surface vehicles or drone ships, which can detect and remove mines with the assistance of smaller drones.

The Yung Yang was launched in 1953 for the US Navy, and handed to Taiwan in 1995. Three other similar ocean minesweepers joined Taiwan’s Navy in 1994 but were retired in 2013, 2020, and 2021, respectively. The Ta Kang tug joined the US Navy in 1944 and was transferred to Taiwan in 1991.

The process to find suitable drone ships to succeed the minesweeper started early this year, the Navy said. It referred to the recent successful testing of drone ships by Japan, where the vessels found and destroyed a mine by remote control.