US Navy ship makes a port call in Busan

Published : Feb 15, 2017 - 12:10 Updated : Feb 15, 2017 - 12:10

An advanced US Navy ship that tracks and monitors ballistic missiles arrived in South Korea's southern port city of Busan on Wednesday, the Seoul military said.

The USNS Howard O. Lorenzen pulled into port three days after North Korea test-fired a newly developed intermediate-range ballistic missile powered by a solid-fuel engine which is more powerful and harder to detect than a liquid-fueled rocket.

This photo taken on Feb. 15, 2017, shows the The USNS Howard O. Lorenzen (T-AGM-25) anchored in the port of Busan. (Yonhap)

"We don't have information about how long the Howard Lorenzen will stay in Busan. It is the first time for it to enter our port while on mission for missile tracking and monitoring in waters near the Korean Peninsula," a military official said.

The missile tracker is also capable of collecting data on the tested weapons and missiles, he said.

The 12,845-ton vessel became operational in 2014 and carries a next-generation active electronically scanned array radar system named Cobra King.

Manned by a combined crew of about 80 sailors and civilian mariners, the ship is 163 meters (534 feet) long and 27 meters wide, and has a maximum speed of 37 kilometers per hour. (Yonhap)