BANGKOK (The Nation/Asia News Network): The Royal Thai Navy’s new frigate, HTMS Chang, docked at the Sattahip Naval Base in Chonburi on Tuesday (April 25) at 10.30am.
The frigate, which will serve as a submarine-support vessel, departed the Hudong-Zhonghua Shipyard in Shanghai on April 18.
It was escorted by the RTN ship, HTMS Narathiwat, on the journey from China and its arrival was marked by a special ceremony at 3pm. The ceremony was presided over by RTN Commander-in-Chief Admiral Choengchai Chomchoengpaet.
The frigate was subsequently delivered to the RTN’s landing and military service unit.
HTMS Chang is the latest model of a type-071 landing platform dock and was built by China Shipbuilding Trading for 6.1 billion baht.
It will be used to support a Chinese S26T Yuan class submarine, the delivery of which has been delayed due to a dispute over its engine.
The frigate is 213 metres long and 28 metres wide, with a maximum displacement of 20,003 tonnes, a top speed of 25 knots and a range of 10,000 nautical miles. The ship can tolerate choppy seas and accommodate a crew of 600.
The frigate was bought as part of the Navy’s 20-year strategy (2017-2036) to procure four landing platform docks to be used in amphibious warfare, marine rescue and disaster relief.
“The Royal Thai Navy has to procure more landing platform docks to maximise operational efficiency,” the RTN said.
Thailand's third HTMS Chang replaces a vessel of the same name that was sunk to become the country’s largest diving wreck off Koh Chang in the Gulf of Thailand.
The second HTMS Chang was decommissioned in 2005, 43 years after the US Navy transferred the ship, then known as the USS Lincoln County, to the Thai government on Aug 31, 1962.
The RTN scuttled the ship to create the Hin Luk Bat diving site in Trat province on November 28, 2012, under a project to create a reef and rehabilitate marine life.
