Korean ship builder HANWHA Ocean has pitched for a second frigate project to Royal Thai Navy.
The first frigate, HTMS Bhumibol Adulyadej, delivered by the company has been serving as the flagship of the Royal Thai Navy.
Heesoo Lee, General Manager of Hanwha Ocean told DefenseHere the first ship’s design was based on FFX Batch II Daegu-Class Frigate for RK (Republic of Korea) Navy. It has a full length of 124 meters and displacement is 3600 tons with maximum cruising speed of 30 knots.
Lee said “We mainly introduced two models. The first one is this Bhumibol Adulyadej frigate, and the second one is the KSS-III submarine. Yes, in the case of the frigate we got the contract from the Thai Navy in 2013 and we delivered this also ship in 2019.
We are pitching for the second frigate project. So hopefully, maybe I’m not sure, but hopefully we wish to receive official RPP from the Royal Thai Navy and the Ministry of Defense.
Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, and Philippines, they have an interest in the frigate project. But unfortunately, so far, we haven’t received any forms of request. But hopefully we are going to receive soon.”