BRP Tarlac, PN's first SSV, to arrive off Manila on May 14

From the Philippine News Agency (May 11): BRP Tarlac, PN's first SSV, to arrive off Manila on May 14

The Philippine Navy (PN)'s first strategic sealift vessel (SSV) is expected to arrive off Manila this coming May 14.

This was disclosed by PN spokesperson Capt. Lued Lincuna Wednesday in a message to the PNA.

Her arrival is well in time with the PN's 118th founding anniversary on May 20.

He added that the SSV, which is named BRP Tarlac (LD-601), departed the PT PAL (Persero) shipyard in Surabaya, Indonesia last Monday.

"The ship will anchor at designated area and crew will undergo Custom Immigration and Quarantine before she will dock at Pier 13 on May 16," Lincuna stressed.

Prior departure, BRP Tarlac has successfully concluded her sea trials, he added.

Sea trials refer to the testing phases which aims to check the performance of all machineries and equipment of the SSV.

"It is also conducted to check and measure the ship's general performance and seaworthiness," he added.

The Philippines has a two-SSV order with PT PAL (Persero) for PHP3,870,000,000 which is sourced from the AFP Modernization Fund.

The SSV acquisition project for the PN was initiated upon the approval of Acquisition Decision Memorandum Number 2012-060 by Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin last Oct. 30, 2013.

The Department of National Defense declared Persero as the Single Calculated Responsive Bidder with a bidding price of PHP3,870,000,000 on Nov. 18, 2014.

The SSVs are programmed to be the PN’s floating command center carrying out their main purpose as military sealift and transport vessels and also for humanitarian assistance and disaster response.

The ships are estimated to weigh around 7,300 gross register tons.

Further, these vessels are critical assets for civil-military operations due to their capability of transporting large number of soldiers, logistics, and supplies.

Moreover, each SSV has the capacity to house three helicopters. The Navy’s Augusta Westland-109s are programmed to be on-board components of these vessels.

These forthcoming landing platform dock strategic sealift vessels will improve the transport capability of the PN and boost the defense capabilities of the country.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=884331