PT PAL lays down keel for second modified variant of Tarlac-class amph…

Philippine and Indonesian officials at the ceremony to lay down the Philippine Navy's fourth SSV on 29 May 2024 in Surabaya. (PT PAL)

Indonesian state-owned shipyard PT PAL has laid down the fourth landing platform dock (LPD)-like strategic sealift vessel (SSV) on order for the Philippine Navy.

Keel for the vessel was laid down on 29 May, the company disclosed on the same day.

Also held during the keel-laying ceremony was an official survey by the Philippine Navy's technical inspection and acceptance committee (TIAC), PT PAL said.

Manila signed a follow-on contract for two more SSVs with PT PAL in June 2022.

The contract is a follow-on to the USD92 million contract that was inked between the Philippine government and PT PAL in June 2014 for similar vessels, which are now in service as the Tarlac class.

First-of-class BRP Tarlac was commissioned in June 2016 while its sister ship BRP Davao del Sur was inducted by the Philippine Navy in May 2017.

The keel for the first modified variant of the SSV, which is the third ship in the class overall, was laid down by PT PAL on 22 January.

PT PAL's Tarlac-class SSV design is derived from the 122–125 m multirole vessels that are in service with the Indonesian Navy, which are in turn based on a design from South Korean company Dae Sun Shipbuilding.

The third and fourth SSVs will feature a slightly longer overall length of 124 m compared with its predecessor ships that are 123 m long.

It displaces about 7,200 tonnes at standard loads and will have an endurance of about 30 days with a standard crew complement, according to PT PAL.