JABAR EKSPRES – The Indonesian Navy will inaugurate KRI Bung Karno-369 on Thursday (1/6), coinciding with the birthday of Pancasila and the birth month of Indonesia’s first President Soekarno.
Navy Chief of Staff (Kasal) Admiral Muhammad Ali said the inauguration of KRI Bung Karno-369 will be carried out at the Military Sea Cross Command (Kolinlamil), Tanjung Priok, Jakarta.
“Tomorrow, June 1, it will be inaugurated at Kolinlamil,” Ali said at the Headquarters Detachment (Denma), Cilangkap, East Jakarta, Wednesday (5/31).
The Kasal said KRI Bung Karno-369 is a domestically produced corvette-type ship.
“This Bung Karno ship is purely domestically made. Made by the best sons and daughters of our nation, so our nation has been able to make a corvette type ship, to become a protocol ship for the presidency,” he said.
Apart from being a corvette, Ali said, this ship will also be used as a presidential ship.
“So, there are two functions, apart from being a corvette, he (KRI Bung Karno) is also a presidential ship,” Ali explained.
The Kasal also said that KRI Bung Karno-369 will replace the old presidential ship, KRI Barakuda.
“And this also replaces the old KRI Barakuda. We used to have a presidential ship, KRI Barakuda, the type is still FPB-57, still a small patrol ship. Now, we are upgrading it to a corvette for the presidential ship,” he said.
Previously, the Kasal said that KRI Bung Karno-369 was superior to KRI Barakuda. This is because KRI Bung Karno-369 is a cruiser, not a patrol ship.
In addition, this ship also has more complete weaponry when compared to KRI Barakuda. In terms of dimensions, the KRI Bung Karno-369 ship is also larger.
“It is about 73 meters long with a crew of 45 people and its speed can also be quite high compared to previous ships,” Ali said after inaugurating the launch of the Bung Karno corvette in Batam, Riau Islands, Wednesday (19/4).