The South Korean Navy has deployed its first fast attack craft to the Yellow Sea, a territory which shares a maritime border with North Korea. This follows increased tension between the neighbouring countries after a nuclear test and missing firing exercise by North Korea in late May.
The Dumdoksuri-class patrol vessel is sometimes known as the PKX-class: Patrol Killer eXperimental. These vessels are part of the next generation patrol vessels which are to replace the current Chamsuri-class.
The first four vessels of the class were ordered from Hanjin Heavy Industries. The head ship of the class, 'Yoon Young-ha' was launched in June 2007 and commissioned at the end of last year. Other such vessels are being built at STX Shipyard.
With a length of 63 metres and a beam of nine metres, the Dumboksuri-class vessels feature CODAG propulsion and twin GE LM 2500 gas turbine engines and two MTU 12V 595 TE9 engines. Achieving a top speed of 41.5 knots, the vessels can accommodate 40 persons.
