NAVY PREPARING SUCCESSOR OF KRI DEWARUCI

Surabaya, E Java, Mar 12 (ANTARA) - The Indonesian Navy Headquarters is planning to procure a new training ship to replace the aging KRI Dewaruci.

The statement was made by Navy Chief of Staff Admiral Agus Suhartono here Friday after seeing off KRI Dewaruci leaving on a tour of Asia and Europe.

"KRI Dewaruci is already too old, and we have prepared a regeneration plan by the procurement of a new training ship," he said in the company of Easter Fleet Commander Rear Admiral Among Margono.

According to the navy chief of staff, the replacement of Dewaruci was already included in the agenda of the Navy Headquarters and would soon be proposed to the government, including the budget of 50 million US dollars to buy the vessel.

The new training ship will have better specifications than its predecessor.

It will have a length of 105 meters, four main masts and room for at least 100 naval cadets.

"We hope the new training ship have already arrived in Indonesia in the next two years. KRI Dewaruci will only be used for domestic operations, and its successor for overseas visits," Agus Suhartono said.

"If the government has given a green light, we will invite training ship building countries to take part in a tender for the procurement," he said.

KRI Dewaruci was built in 1952 by H.C. Stulchen & Sohn in Hamburg, Germany, and launched on January 24, 1953.

In July 1953, the ship left Germany for Indonesia and manned by Indonesian naval cadets.
KRI Dewaruci which has a length of 58.30 meters, a width of 9.50 meters and a draft of 4.50 meters, has a dwt of 847 tons, and highly sophisticated navigational computerized system.

The Barquentin type vessel has three main masts with 16 sails, a 986 HP engine and a cruising speed of 10.5 knots.