The navy's friendly flotilla will set sail in the middle of the month on its 12-day visit to ports around the nation, during which its ships will be open to the public, the navy announced on its official Web site.
This year's friendly flotilla will be composed of three ships: a Lafayette-class frigate, a Chengkung-class frigate and a supply ship.
The ships will make port visits between Feb. 11 and Feb. 22. The flotilla will stop at Keelung, Taipei, Taichung, Penghu, Kaohsiung, Suao and Hualien. Its first stop will be Hualien.
The flotilla will stay at these ports for one or two days, during which time the three ships will be open to the public.
But the ships will be open only to group visitors who have applied for boarding in advance and will be closed to individual tourists.
One the tour is completed, the flotilla will head to Latin America.
It will makes stops at several of Taiwan's diplomatic allies in the region, although the navy has not yet announced which countries.
The navy's friendly flotilla visited the region two years ago. The trip coincided with President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) visit to several diplomatic allies.
The voyage, which lasted for more than 100 days, was the longest the friendly flotilla has ever made.
It has been the navy's tradition for several decades to send a friendly flotilla to countries that have diplomatic relations with Taiwan or are friendly to the nation.
The flotilla is usually commanded by an officer who is considered to be a future star in the navy.
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