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Korea Coast Guard, led by Commissioner General Kim Hong Hee, announced on November 13 that its two 300-ton class retired patrol vessels, which it decided to donate entirely free of charge to help patrol the renowned Galapagos Islands, will depart for Ecuador. As a follow-up measure to the bilateral agreement with the Navy of the Republic of Ecuador for cooperation on maritime safety signed in May last year, the KCG has decided to hand over its two 300-ton retired vessels to Ecuador. A large transport ship of a shipping company commissioned by Ecuador will carry the donated vessels. The ship is scheduled to sail out from the Masan Port of South Korea on Nov. 13 and arrive at the Guayaquil Port of Ecuador around early December.
The transport costs will be borne in full by Ecuador.
The decommissioned patrol vessels of Jeju 302 and 303, which are to be transferred to Ecuador, were built in 1990 and 1991, respectively. They had been guarding the waters around Jeju Island until the end of last year by seizing 357 and 215 illegal fishing vessels and rescuing 203 and 179 ships, respectively.
Meanwhile, only one vessel operated by the Ecuadorian Navy is currently in charge of patrolling the waters of the Galapagos due to a lack of patrol vessels.
When the two patrol vessels of the KCG arrive in Ecuador, they will need to go through additional repairs for about three months. Then, they are to be operated and dispatched by the Ecuadorian Navy for the mission of patrolling between the Galapagos base and the Port of Posorja with a shift rotating on a weekly basis.
Their major tasks would range from cracking down on illegal fishery and drug trafficking in the waters of the Galapagos to taking emergency patients to the hospital.
Initially, Darwin Jarrin Cisneros, General Commander of the Ecuadorian Navy, was scheduled to visit Korea in May this year to sign an agreement with the KCG and take over the vessels. However, as the visit was canceled due to Covid-19, he has signed the agreement through international mail and sent the KCG a video message to express his gratitude.
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