PAL to launch Nagapasa-class submarine at alternate site

PAL has finished relocating the Nagapasa-class submarine that it is building for the Indonesian Navy to an alternate site for launching after the original location proved impractical for the purpose.

The Indonesian state-owned shipbuilder cited heavy silting and the draught being much shallower than anticipated at the original site at Jalan Letnan Supriyadi, which could pose problems for KRI Alugoro when it enters the water for the first time.

The submarine was placed on an intermediate barge and transported to PAL’s facility in Semarang in East Java more than 350 kilometres away. The Semarang facility is the launch site of the larger navy vessels that PAL is building, such as the 125-metre Makassar-class landing platform docks (LPDs).

Alugoro, which was originally scheduled to be launched in October of last year, will instead be floated out on April 12.

Alugoro is the third submarine in the Nagapasa-class but the first to be assembled locally by PAL. Its two sisters, KRI Nagapasa and KRI Ardadedali, were built in South Korea by Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME).

All three Nagapasa-class submarines are improved variants of the DSME-built Chang Bogo-class, which are themselves variants of the Type 209 class built by HDW of Germany.