The Hellenic Navy's newest frigate has begun undergoing sea trials. Construction meanwhile continues on a salvage and rescue ship for Poland and surface warships for the navies of Italy, Colombia, and Turkey.
Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri has cut the first steel to be used in the construction of a new multi-purpose offshore patrol vessel (pattugliatore polivalente d'altura; PPA) of the Italian Navy.
The ship will be the eighth Thaon di Revel-class PPA to be built by Fincantieri for the Italian Navy. Like her sisters, she will be used for a range of missions including patrols, civil protection, and search and rescue.
Upon completion, the ship will have an LOA of 143 metres, a beam of 16.5 metres, a draught of 10.5 metres, accommodation for 135 crewmembers, and deck space for an 11-metre-long rigid inflatable boat (RIB) that the crew can use for at-sea interceptions and boardings. The RIB will be deployed into and recovered from the water via davits or a stern ramp.
French shipbuilder the Naval Group has begun conducting sea trials of the Hellenic Navy's second FDI HN frigate.
Like her earlier sister HS Kimon, the future HS Nearchos is a variant of the defence and intervention frigate (frégate de défense et d'intervention; FDI) designed by the Naval Group for the French Navy. She belongs to the FDI HN class, alternately known as the Kimon-class, which was developed specifically to satisfy the Hellenic Navy’s operational requirements.
The FDI HNs, similar to the baseline FDIs, were built to be capable of anti-air warfare, anti-surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare, and insertion and extraction of special operations forces. Each frigate can operate alone or as part of a naval task force and can be deployed long-term over long distances.
Colombian shipyard Cotecmar has cut the first steel to be used in the construction of a new frigate ordered by the Colombian Navy.
The frigate will be the lead ship of a new class designated by the Colombian navy as "strategic surface platforms" (plataforma estrategica de superficie; PES). It will also be the first frigate to be built in Colombia.
The PES ships will utilise the same basic design as those of frigates already in service with the navies of Mexico and Indonesia. Design work was undertaken in compliance with Lloyd's Register class requirements.
PGZ Stocznia Wojenna recently laid the keel of a new salvage and rescue vessel ordered by the Polish Navy.
The future ORP Ratownik will be able to perform a range of missions including responding to disabled submarines in territorial and international waters and protecting critical underwater infrastructure in the Baltic Sea.
The future Ratownik will replace rescue vessels that have been in Polish Navy service for more than 50 years.
Turkey's Anadolu Shipyard has launched a new guided-missile frigate ordered by the Turkish Navy.
The future TCG Akdeniz is the fifth frigate in the locally built Istif-class. Class lead ship TCG Istanbul was built by Istanbul Naval Shipyard while recently launched sister ship TCG Izmir was also built by Anadolu Shipyard, though all frigates in the Istif-class were designed by STM Defence.
The 113-metre-long frigates will be used for anti-surface warfare, anti-air warfare, and anti-submarine warfare (ASW) as well as secondary roles that include reconnaissance, surveillance, target detection, identification, recognition, and early warning.
