Posted 03 August 2007 @ 14:23
JAKARTA, 03 August 2007 - The Indonesian Navy is expected to receive a Sigma-class corvette in the next few weeks. "We expect the corvette to arrive mid August. It is currently on its way from the Netherlands to Indonesia," head of the Indonesian Navy`s Information Service Commodore Sugeng Darmawan said here on Friday.
The corvette, already named KRI Diponegoro-365, departed from Vlissingen in the Netherlands on the 3rd of July. The corvette is one of four Sigma-class corvettes that the Indonesian navy has ordered from Schelde Naval Shipbuilding in the Netherlands. The corvette is to be used for patrol duties in Indonesian waters.
Navy Chief of Staff Admiral Slamet Soebijanto and Dutch Navy Chief Admiral J.W. Kelder signed an agreement on the handing over of the corvette early July. Indonesia had placed the order for the four corvettes in 2005. Construction of the first two started in 2005, while construction of the other two was started in 2006.
The first two corvettes were named KRI Diponegoro and KRI Hasanuddin. Minister of Defence in Indonesia Juwono Sudarsono went to the Netherlands last September to take a look at the warships. The KRI Hasanuddin is to sail to Indonesia in December this year. The third, with the name KRI Sultan Iskandar Muda, is expected to be completed in September 2008. The fourth, KRI Frans Kaisiepo, would depart for Indonesia in March 2009.
Commodore Sugeng Darmawan told that the Navy had decided to choose the corvettes because of their functional flexibility and the fact that they could be ordered in a relatively short period of time. With a weight of 1,700 tons, the 90.71 meter long warship can reach a maximum speed of 28 knots and cruise over a distance of around 500 kilometers at 10 knots.
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