Pretoria - The SAS Mendi, the newest of four Valour-class corvettes, will set sail on Sunday on a tour of several South African ports, the Navy said yesterday.

The Mendi would visit Port Elizabeth, East London and Durban to gain experience in manoeuvring the vessels in the three ports in order "to assess how they handle in the vagaries of the different harbours", Commander Brian Stockton said.

The Mendi was only scheduled to start receiving her command and weapons systems from December, meaning there was "an important window of opportunity to evaluate the handling characteristics of the ... corvettes in the various ports along the east coast of South Africa which they will obviously visit often during their operational lives", Stockton said.

The deployment, which would last until November 12, would also provide an opportunity for the public to see the vessels.

With acknowledgements to Sapa and the Cape Times.