US-based GE Marine has announced that its 4.6MW LM500 marine gas turbines will power ships 13-16 of the Republic of Korea Navy’s PKX-B Chamsuri II patrol boat programme.

The new ships will be built by the Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction shipyard, and the GE LM500 gas turbine modules will be manufactured, assembled and tested in Korea by Hanwha Aerospace.

In December 2019, the ROK Navy launched PKX-B ships 5-8, which are due to join the fleet at the end of this year. Each ship can reach speeds of over 40 knots, powered by two GE LM500 gas turbines (www.geaviation.com) and two diesel engines in a CODAG (combined diesel and gas turbine) configuration.

The PKX-B complements the larger 500-tonne PKX-A Gumdoksuri-class patrol boats to provide maritime protection and defence.

Both the PKX-A and PKX-B ships are powered by GE LM500 marine gas turbines; the first PKX-A Gumdoksuri in the 18-ship programme entered service in 2008.

GE’s Kris Shepherd, general manager (marine operations), said: “Thanks to our long-standing relationships in the Republic of Korea, we worked directly with key component manufacturers on a complete system design analysis and improvement programme.

"The end result was that the PKX-B realised a 45% reduction in size and weight from its PKX-A predecessor by optimising the package and gas turbine auxiliary systems to include an electric start system.”

GE and Hanwha Aerospace also have the opportunity to provide LM500 gas turbines for the ROK Navy’s PKX-B Batch II, which will commence in the fourth quarter of 2020.