Recent deliveries include a North Korean destroyer and two patrol boats for the Royal Australian Navy. Construction meanwhile continues on a US Coast Guard patrol cutter, a UK Royal Navy support ship, and a combat vessel for the Republic of Singapore Navy.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said a newly commissioned destroyer would be part of a nuclear response system capable of delivering "annihilating retaliatory strikes", state media KCNA reported on Monday, though it did not say whether the vessel would carry nuclear weapons.
North Korea has accelerated efforts to modernise its navy as Kim pursues a broader expansion of the country's nuclear-capable forces.
At a commissioning ceremony in the port city of Wonsan on Sunday, Kim said deploying the new ship to the sea east of the Korean Peninsula sent a clear signal to North Korea's adversaries.
"The time has come for us to exercise our sovereignty at sea and underwater," Kim said, according to KCNA.
Kim's daughter, known as Ju Ae, took a prominent role in the ceremony, wearing a white dress suit, standing beside her father to receive salutes, appearing on a giant screen above the cheering crowd and boarding the destroyer, KCNA photographs showed.
Navantia UK has laid the keel of a future supply ship ordered by the UK Royal Navy for operation by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA).
The first ship to be built under the RFA's fleet solid support (FSS) programme will be named RFA Resurgent.
Each FSS ship will be 216 metres long and will provide munitions, spares, food and other essential stores to Royal Navy vessels at sea.
Navantia UK said this new capability will enhance defence operations, ensuring that the Royal Navy's ships can remain at sea for prolonged periods without returning to port.
Singapore defence shipbuilder ST Engineering laid the keel of the Republic of Singapore Navy's third Victory-class multi-role combat vessel (MRCV) during a ceremony on Thursday, September 3.
Development of the MRCVs is being undertaken jointly by ST Engineering and the Defence Science and Technology Agency of the Singaporean government.
Deliveries of the ships are scheduled to commence in 2028.
Upon completion, the ship will have an LOA of 130 metres, a moulded beam of 19 metres, a draught of 5.2 metres, a crew complement of 110, and a helicopter deck.
The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) has commissioned the final two of ten Evolved Cape-class patrol boats built for the service by local shipyard Austal.
HMAS Cape Spencer and HMAS Cape Hawke each have an LOA of 57.8 metres, a beam of 10.3 metres, a draught of approximately three metres, and accommodation for 32 crewmembers and other personnel.
Austal said the Evolved Cape-class boats were built with a number of enhancements over the baseline Cape-class patrol boats.
The enhancements will improve operational capability and crew capacity compared to the vessels already operated by the RAN and the Australian Border Force (ABF).
Austal USA has begun construction on the third US Coast Guard Heritage-class offshore patrol cutter, the future USCGC Ingham, at its shipyard in Mobile, Alabama.
The vessel is being built under a contract that includes options for up to 11 cutters, with a potential total value of $3.3 billion.
The program is intended to replace the coast guard’s ageing fleet of medium-endurance cutters, providing a capability between its larger national security cutters and shore-based fast response vessels.
The 360-foot (109.7-metre) cutter is designed for 60 days of endurance and a range of 10,200 nautical miles (18,890 kilometres) at 14 knots. Its missions will include law enforcement, maritime interdiction and search and rescue.
