South Korea hands over Po Hang-class corvette to Colombia

The Colombian Navy (Armada de Colombia: ARC) has received a Po Hang-class corvette from South Korea.

ARC Almirante Tono , a Po Hang-class corvette that was formerly in service with South Korea, seen here at its handover ceremony. (Armada de Colombia via Facebook)

The vessel, which was previously in South Korean service as ROKS Iksan (PCC-768), was handed over at the Jinhae Naval Base, the ARC announced via its official social media page on 28 September. The corvette was donated by the South Korean government under an agreement that was inked between the two countries in 2019.

Iksan was decommissioned on 31 December 2018 and has been modified to suit the ARC’s requirements. The ship is now known as ARC Almirante Tono , with pennant number 56. Images accompanying the ARC’s social media post confirm that the vessel has been transferred with its 76 and 40 mm cannons intact.

The Po Hang-class vessels were built in South Korea and commissioned into the Republic of Korea Navy (RoKN) between 1986 and 1993.