South Korea donates Chamsuri-class patrol vessel to Uruguayan Navy

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – During the presentation before the Parliament of the annual Accountability, Uruguay’s Minister of Defense, Javier Garcia, confirmed that the country had accepted the transfer of a patrol vessel donated by the Republic of Korea.

The vessel to be transferred would be a fast patrol vessel of the Chamsuri class, built in 1989 and decommissioned by Korea in 2021.

These units have as their main characteristics to possess about 170 tons of displacement, a maximum crew of 30, a top speed of 37 knots, and be powered by two MTU MT16V 538 TB 90 Diesel engines with 6000hp.

The armament of these units is varied but generally consists of a 40mm Bofors gun and a diverse combination of secondary armament, including 20mm Vulcan guns and .50 machine guns.

During their service with South Korea, they had anti-missile countermeasures and other advanced electronic systems that were unlikely to be transferred to Uruguay.

MARINE PROTECTOR CLASS

The minister further explained that the referred unit would be added to the three Marine Protector class patrol boats arriving in the coming months to Uruguay.

In this sense, the crews in charge of transporting the ships from the United States to Uruguay left yesterday for Baltimore, Maryland, where they will soon begin the long voyage to Uruguay, bordering the entire American continent.

The three vessels will be named ROU 14 Rio Arapey, ROU 15 Rio de la Plata, and ROU 16 Rio Yaguaron. The ships should be arriving in Uruguay in September.

With information from InfoDefensa