US to hand over large patrol ship to Vietnam

Thai An• May 28, 2020 18:02

Vietnam and the US continue to promote bilateral defense cooperation, including maritime security cooperation and enhancing law enforcement capacity at sea, said the deputy spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Deputy spokesman Doan Khac Viet answered a reporter's question about the US preparing to hand over a large coast guard ship to Vietnam.

This will be the second Hamilton-class patrol boat the US will hand over to Vietnam.

Mr. Viet said that the Vietnam-US comprehensive partnership has maintained progress in many areas in recent times, including cooperation in national security and defense.

"Based on the agreements reached between the two sides, including the 2011 Memorandum of Understanding on Defense Cooperation, the 2015 Joint Vision Statement on Defense Cooperation, and the 2018-2020 Defense Cooperation Plan, the two sides continue to promote bilateral defense cooperation, including maritime security cooperation and enhancing law enforcement capacity at sea, contributing to maintaining peace, stability, cooperation, and development in the region and the world," the deputy spokesperson said.

According to an American news site, the USCGC John Midgett patrol ship is expected to be handed over to the Vietnam Coast Guard by the end of 2020.

This will be the second Hamilton-class patrol boat delivered to Vietnam by the US. The first, the USCGC Morgenthau, was delivered in late 2017.

The Hamilton class was the largest patrol ship of the US Coast Guard in the 1960s. The ship had the function of patrolling territorial waters, rescue and rescue, ocean survey and could operate in all seas of the world.