A new patrol vessel has been delivered to the Netherlands Coast Guard while construction continues on an Indian Navy missile corvette and submarine rescue ships for the Spanish and Vietnamese navies. The US Navy has selected three additional shipyards for the construction of a recently introduced class of landing craft.
India's Cochin Shipyard (CSL) has begun construction a new Indian Navy corvette that will be used primarily for anti-surface warfare.
The vessel will be the second ship of a new class of corvettes that the navy has designated as next-generation missile vessels (NGMVs). CSL will build six NGMVs for a total cost equivalent to US$1 billion.
Each corvette will have a length of 89 metres, a beam of 12 metres, a draught of just under 3.4 metres, a displacement of 1,437 tonnes, and a crew complement of 13 officers and 80 enlisted sailors.
Spanish shipyard Navantia has floated out a new submarine rescue vessel that had been ordered by the Spanish Navy in 2020.
The new vessel will replace Neptuno, a tug that was acquired in 1975, as the Spanish Navy's sole submarine rescue platform.
Classed as a "maritime action vessel" (buque de acción marítima; BAM), the newer ship has been designed specifically to be compatible with the Isaac Peral-class diesel-electric submarines.
The completed vessel will boast a working deck with a total area of 400 square metres and space for remotely operated vehicles and modular mission-specific systems such as the NATO submarine rescue system.
A newly built patrol vessel was recently handed over to the Netherlands Coastguard.
Enforcer will be operated under charter by the coast guard but will remain under the ownership of Dutch towage and salvage specialist Multraship, which will also be responsible for the navigational crew and maintenance.
The vessel's main area of operations will encompass the North Sea.
The Government Fleet Agency of the Netherlands (Rijksrederij) had earlier issued instructions for the charter of Enforcer in line with the expansion of the Netherlands Coastguard's duties.
Vietnamese shipbuilder Song Thu Corporation has launched a new rescue vessel slated for the Vietnam People's Navy (VPN).
The vessel will be used primarily for the rescue of crews of distressed submarines but may also be employed for rescuing crews of surface vessels and conducting seabed surveys.
The completed vessel will have an LOA of 80.95 metres, a beam of 16.4 metres, a displacement of 3,520 tons at full load, and a range of 4,000 nautical miles. Alternatively, the vessel will be capable of staying out at sea for up to 30 days before requiring refuelling and resupply.
The US Navy has awarded three competitive prototype other transaction (OT) agreements to Conrad Shipyard of Orange, Texas; Master Boat Builders of Coden, Alabama; and Saronic Technologies of Brownsville, Texas, to build new utility landing craft (LCUs) under the LCU-1700-class.
“By selecting three distinct shipyards, the navy is expanding its shipbuilding industrial base capacity and building a resilient 'second source' of supply for landing craft,” said William F. Mahan, who is performing the duties of Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition. “OT prototype authority allows the navy to move at the speed of relevance.”
Under the agreements, each shipyard will construct two or three prototype craft and refine manufacturing plans to support high-rate production.
The total initial construction obligation is US$280,521,389.
