MADRID, June 16 (EUROPA PRESS) –
Taiwan’s Coast Guard has launched the patrol ship ‘Yunlin’, a 4,000-ton vessel that will be immediately deployed to deal with continued incursions by Chinese vessels into disputed waters.
The Taiwanese president, William Lai, highlighted during the launch in Kauhsiung on Saturday that this new ship “will improve patrol capacity in the south”, according to the newspaper ‘Taipei Times’.
“The ‘Yunlin’ not only enhances the Coast Guard’s ability to safeguard people’s lives and property by expanding the patrol area, maintaining order and investigating illegal maritime trafficking, but also contributes to the country’s humanitarian missions.” , he has argued.
The ‘Yunlin’ is the third of four Chiayi-class patrol vessels ordered from Taiwanese shipyard CSBC and will join the Sector South fleet based in Kaohsiung.
The ship has three high-pressure water cannons with a range of 120 meters for dispersion purposes and a helicopter platform, the Ocean Affairs Council has detailed. Lai highlighted that between 2018 and 2027 Taiwan will build 141 new patrol vessels.
