Navy Chief of Staff Admiral Muhammad Ali stated that the inauguration ceremony of KRI Bung Karno-369 ship will be held at the Maritime Military Command Headquarters (Kolinlamil) in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta.
"Tomorrow, on June 1, (the ship) will be transferred to Kolinlamil and be inaugurated thereafter," the Admiral stated at the Navy Headquarters' Detachment in Cilangkap, East Jakarta, Wednesday.
Admiral Ali stated that KRI Bung Karno-369 is a domestically-manufactured corvette ship.
"This Bung Karno ship is purely domestically manufactured. This is a product of our nation's best sons and daughters. It serves as proof that this nation is able to produce a corvette ship," he remarked.
He stated that the corvette ship will also be operated as a presidential protocol ship.
"Therefore, it will serve both as a corvette warship as well as a presidential ship," he noted.
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As a presidential ship, he said, KRI Bung Karno-369 will replace its old predecessor, namely KRI Barakuda.
"The corvette ship will replace the old KRI Barakuda. Previously, we operated KRI Barakuda, which was a small FPB-57 patrol ship, as a presidential ship. Now, we will upgrade the presidential ship with the inauguration of the corvette ship," he pointed out.
Earlier, Ali affirmed that the KRI Bung Karno-369 ship was superior to KRI Barakuda, as the former belongs to the cruiser ship category and is not a mere patrol ship.
In addition, he said, the corvette ship is better equipped, with a more complete weaponry as compared to KRI Barakuda. Moreover, the KRI Bung Karno-369 is also bigger in terms of the size.
"The ship is 73 meters long, and it can carry as many as 45 crews. In fact, it can also exceed the speed of its predecessors," Ali noted during the Bung Karno-369 corvette launch ceremony in Batam, Riau Islands, on Wednesday (April 19).
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Translator: Fath Putra, Tegar Nurfitra
Editor: Yuni Arisandy Sinaga
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