South Korean shipyard Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) held a ceremony on 14 December for the delivery of the DW3000 Frigate ordered by the Royal Thai Navy. HTMS Tachin was ceremonially handed over to senior RTN officials and the frigate’s crew on 14 December at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering’s (DSME’s) facilities in Okpo, South Korea. The Royal Thai Navy’s (RTN’s) first South Korean-made multipurpose frigate, is on its journey home from South Korea to Thailand. The vessel is on track to be commissioned by the Royal Thai Navy in early 2019
The vessel, a “DW3000 F” Frigate, was fully designed and developed by DSME. It is 122.5 meters in length, 14.4 meters in width with a top speed of 30 knots. It can accommodate a crew of 136. The vessel, which received the penant number 471 and named “Tha Chine” is already fitted with a 76mm main gun. Models of the vessel previously showcased by DSME showed additional equipment such as a Phalanx CIWS, Harpoon launchers, 8x Mk41 VLS, Saab SeaGiraffe radar and Atlas Electronik towed sonar. Thailand ordered the 3,650 tons frigate in August 2013 under a contract worth US$410 million. A second unit may eventually be ordered by the Royal Thai Navy.
