Korean Daewoo Shipbuilding Launches Second Indonesian Submarine

Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) has launched 1,400-ton diesel submarine built for Indonesia in South Korea.

The submarine is the second of the three submarines being built under a 2011 deal worth US$1.1 billion, Yonhap News Agency reported today.

In March, the shipbuilder had a launching ceremony for the first submarine, said Yoon Yo-han, a spokesman for Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering.

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering held a ceremony for the second submarine at its shipyard in Geoje Island, close to the country's southeastern port city of Busan, he said.

The shipbuilder is set to deliver the first and second submarines to Indonesia in March and October next year, respectively. The third submarine is scheduled to be delivered to the Southeast Asian country in 2018, Yoon said.

The submarines, a modified version of the Chang Bogo class currently in service in the South Korean Navy, can travel 18,520 kilometers without a port call, twice the distance from Busan to Los Angeles.

The Navy currently operates two German-made submarines, the KRI Cakra and KRI Nenggala, which were built in the 1980s. The boats are due to be decommissioned in 2020.