Aleksandr Sledzyuk entered service on 3 April 1992, and was renamed Yuvent (Russian: Ювент) the next day after being delivered to shipping company Aqua Limited of Kaliningrad.

Her secondary roles included acting as a replenishment tanker, supporting South Africa's Antarctic research program, providing search and rescue capabilities and responding to natural disasters.

[6] On 11 August 1993 she sailed from her home port of Simon's Town, and undertook a voyage in which she delivered agricultural implements to Mombasa in Kenya and a mobile hospital to Trieste in Italy.

[6] During September and October 1994 Outeniqua delivered food supplies bound for Rwandan refugees to Dar es Salaam in Tanzania; this made her the first South African warship to visit the country since 1952.

[6] During 1994 Outeniqua also underwent a refit in which her flight deck and hangar were modified to allow the ship to operate two Atlas Oryx helicopters, and she was fitted with replenishment at sea equipment and an armament comprising small calibre cannons and heavy machine guns.

[8] In July that year she formed part of a South African task force of three warships and a submarine which visited Maputo in Mozambique and Dar es Salaam; during this voyage Outeniqua hosted a banquet for diplomats and senior Mozambican military officers.

[6] Outeniqua took part in another cruise in January and February 2002 when she and the fast attack craft SAS Adam Kok visited Dar es Salaam, Tanga Bay and Zanzibar to conduct peace-keeping exercises.

This voyage was to form part of a program called "Operation Noah's Ark" which aimed to repopulate Quiçama National Park following the conclusion of the Angolan Civil War.

[13] During June 2003 Outeniqua took part in a three-week-long naval exercise which involved eight warships, the submarine SAS Assegaai and South African Air Force aircraft.