The Philippines' Department of National Defense (DND) and the Philippine Navy (PN) has selected Indonesian state-owned shipbuilder PT PAL (Persero) to build 2 Landing Platform Docks (also known as the Strategic Sealift Vessels or SSV). PT PAL's executives confirmed that they already received the Notice of Award as of 1st week of January, and MaxDefense sources also confirmed that the NOA was indeed given as early as after the New Year holidays.
It was also known and confirmed recently that a contract was already signed between PT PAL and the DND/PN as of the end of January 2014, thus finalizing the start of construction of the 2 ships for the PN. It is expected that the first ship will be delivered to the PN within 2 years, or by around February 2016, with the second ship delivered by around February 2017.
For those who are unaware of the project, the Indonesian shipbuilder was the lone eligible bidder out of 2 entities that joined the tender last August 2013, the other being Daewoo/Daesun Shipbuilding from South Korea, whose bid was declared ineligible. PT PAL's bid for the project was Php 3,863,999,520, a little lower than the Php 4 billion ABC for the project. PT PAL will be using a derivative of their Banjarmasin-class LPD, which itself was derived from the Makassar-class LPD made by Daewoo/Daesun Shipbuilding for the Indonesian Navy (TNI-AL).
Upon winning the tender, PT PAL underwent a post-bid qualification, which include site inspections and checking the declared capability of the shipbuilder. As expected, PT PAL passed the requirements due to its previous experience in building similar vessels, and its growing capability to construct more complex naval vessels, which includes the local construction of sections and completing the Indonesian Navy's PKR (Perusak Kawal Rudal) frigate based on the Dutch SIGMA 10514 design.
The specifications of the LPD (SSV) was discussed in previous MaxDefense blogs, which can be found on the link HERE. From now on, MaxDefense updates on this project would probably be regarding the construction phase of both ships, and on the separate systems which include weapons and sensors system.
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UPDATES:
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July 18, 2014:
PT PAL confirmed that they have signed the contract last June to build 2 SSVs for the Philippine Navy for $92 million. This amount includes the integrated logistics support (ILS) for the ships. It was reported earlier in local media sources that the ships will not include weapons and sophisticated sensors systems aside from the commercial-spec'd navigational radar.
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January 22, 2015:
The steel cutting ceremony was held for the first Strategic Sealift Vessel of the Philippine Navy at PT PAL's facility in Surabaya, Indonesia. Temporarily named "SSV-1", the first of the class appears to still be unnamed as of this writing. Philippine Navy FOIC VAdm. Jesus C. Millan was present during the ceremonies. Reports coming from Indonesian media places the length of the ship at 123 meters, and a width of 21.8 meters, has a crew of 121 men and can accommodate 500 troops. It is also said to use steel materials supplied by Indonesian company PT Krakatau Steel.
Below are photos from the said event:
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June 6, 2015:
A construction milestone has been reached for both Strategic Sealift Vessels by PT PAL on June 5, 2015.
For the SSV-1, PT PAL declared that it has entered the keel laying stage of the work, which accounts to around 25% of the work, while they also announced that at least 80% of all imported parts are already delivered to their facility. PT PAL expects to launch the ship by November 2015, and reach its deadline to deliver the ship to the Philippine Navy by May 2015.
For the SSV-2, a 1st steel cutting ceremony was also made, in a similar fashion as that of the first ship.
Below are the photos taken during the ceremonies, taken from Tribun Images of Indonesia:
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| The Indonesian Navy's Banjarmasin-class LPD from PT PAL, which has slight differences from the original Makassar-class made by Daesun Shipbuilding. |
It was also known and confirmed recently that a contract was already signed between PT PAL and the DND/PN as of the end of January 2014, thus finalizing the start of construction of the 2 ships for the PN. It is expected that the first ship will be delivered to the PN within 2 years, or by around February 2016, with the second ship delivered by around February 2017.
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| PT PAL and Philippine Navy officials during the contract signing at Philippine Navy Headquarters. Photo taken from PT PAL website and Indo Defense blog. |
For those who are unaware of the project, the Indonesian shipbuilder was the lone eligible bidder out of 2 entities that joined the tender last August 2013, the other being Daewoo/Daesun Shipbuilding from South Korea, whose bid was declared ineligible. PT PAL's bid for the project was Php 3,863,999,520, a little lower than the Php 4 billion ABC for the project. PT PAL will be using a derivative of their Banjarmasin-class LPD, which itself was derived from the Makassar-class LPD made by Daewoo/Daesun Shipbuilding for the Indonesian Navy (TNI-AL).
Upon winning the tender, PT PAL underwent a post-bid qualification, which include site inspections and checking the declared capability of the shipbuilder. As expected, PT PAL passed the requirements due to its previous experience in building similar vessels, and its growing capability to construct more complex naval vessels, which includes the local construction of sections and completing the Indonesian Navy's PKR (Perusak Kawal Rudal) frigate based on the Dutch SIGMA 10514 design.
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| Construction of Banjarmasin-class LPD at PT PAL shipbuilding yard in Indonesia. |
The specifications of the LPD (SSV) was discussed in previous MaxDefense blogs, which can be found on the link HERE. From now on, MaxDefense updates on this project would probably be regarding the construction phase of both ships, and on the separate systems which include weapons and sensors system.
===============
UPDATES:
===============
July 18, 2014:
PT PAL confirmed that they have signed the contract last June to build 2 SSVs for the Philippine Navy for $92 million. This amount includes the integrated logistics support (ILS) for the ships. It was reported earlier in local media sources that the ships will not include weapons and sophisticated sensors systems aside from the commercial-spec'd navigational radar.
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January 22, 2015:
The steel cutting ceremony was held for the first Strategic Sealift Vessel of the Philippine Navy at PT PAL's facility in Surabaya, Indonesia. Temporarily named "SSV-1", the first of the class appears to still be unnamed as of this writing. Philippine Navy FOIC VAdm. Jesus C. Millan was present during the ceremonies. Reports coming from Indonesian media places the length of the ship at 123 meters, and a width of 21.8 meters, has a crew of 121 men and can accommodate 500 troops. It is also said to use steel materials supplied by Indonesian company PT Krakatau Steel.
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| Although unconfirmed, this might be the closest scale model of the Philippine Navy's SSV. It shows helicopter landing space for 2 helicopters, and a main gun that looks like an Oto Melara 76mm SR. Photo taken from kontan.co.id. |
Below are photos from the said event:
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| Officials from the DND, PN, Indonesian Government, Indonesian Navy, and PT PAL with the signed plate in the shape of the PN's SSV. Both photos taken from suarasurabaya.net |
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June 6, 2015:
A construction milestone has been reached for both Strategic Sealift Vessels by PT PAL on June 5, 2015.
For the SSV-1, PT PAL declared that it has entered the keel laying stage of the work, which accounts to around 25% of the work, while they also announced that at least 80% of all imported parts are already delivered to their facility. PT PAL expects to launch the ship by November 2015, and reach its deadline to deliver the ship to the Philippine Navy by May 2015.
For the SSV-2, a 1st steel cutting ceremony was also made, in a similar fashion as that of the first ship.
Below are the photos taken during the ceremonies, taken from Tribun Images of Indonesia:
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| Photos during the 1st Steel Cutting ceremonies for SSV-2, with RAdm. Cesar Taccad representing the Philippine Navy. Photos taken from Tribunnews.com. |
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| PT PAL, Indonesian governement and Philippine Navy officials view the keel laying works on the first ship of the class, temporarily named SSV-1 last June 5, 2015. Photos taken from Tribunnews.com. |
