The Philippine Navy (PN) on Wednesday said the
newly-commissioned strategic sealift vessel and three ex-Royal Australian Navy
landing craft heavies (LCHs) will greatly boosts its transport and disaster
response capabilities.
"All of these new acquisitions give the PN a
significant boost on its capability of transporting personnel, equipment and
aid during humanitarian assistance and disaster response operations (HADR).
They will also be useful in transporting troops from one operational area to
another," PN spokesperson Capt. Lued Lincuna said.
The commissioning ceremonies for the country's first
strategic sealift vessel, the BRP Tarlac (LD-601) and three LCHs who were named
BRP Agta (LC-290), BRP Iwak (LC-289) and BRP Waray (LC-288), was headed by
President Benigno S. Aquino III.
The event was held at Pier 13, Manila South
Harbor
BRP Tarlac, weighting 7,300-gross tons, is the PN largest
vessel to date.
BRP Tarlac arrived in the Philippines
last May 14 after a five-day journey from PT PAL (Persero)'s shipyard in Surabaya
The Philippines
She was formally presented to the public at Pier 13, Manila South
Harbor
BRP Tarlac will be assigned to the Philippine Fleet's
Sealift Amphibious Force.
She has an overall length of 120 meters,breadth of 21
meters, draft of five meters and carry a payload of 2,800 tons.
She has a cruising speed of 13 knots and maximum speed of 16
knots.
The ship has minimum operating range of 7,500 nautical
miles.
Her sister-ship is expected to be delivered by May 2017.
The ship has a complement of 121 officers and enlisted
personnel.
She can carry 500 troops, two rigid-hull inflatable boats,
two landing craft units and three helicopters.
While BRP Agta, BRP Iwak and BRP Waray, the ex-RAN LCHs,
were named after indigenous people per PN naming conventions.
Lincuna said these three ships will be assign to the Sealift
Amphibious Force of the Philippine Fleet along with BRP Tarlac.
These three LCHs were sold to the PN for friendship prices
of Php270 million.
The three are sisters to BRP Ivatan (AT-298) (formerly HMAS
Tarakan (L-129)) and BRP Batak (AT-299) (L-127) (ex-HMAS Brunei
The first two LCHs were donated by the Australian Government
to the Philippines
"The acquisition of additional capabilities of our Navy
further translates into offering better service to our maritime nation as we
continue to protect our country, step up commitment for HADR and our continuing
pledge to provide assistance to our Filipino people in all corners of the
archipelago. These new assets are manifestations of our Navy’s optimum
readiness to perform its tasks and the ability to adapt vis-a-vis the emergent
operating environment," Lincuna said.
LCHs are an extremely versatile vessel, capable of moving
large amounts of cargo, personnel and equipment from larger ships to shore.
A very shallow draft (two meters) allows these ships to
deliver personnel and equipment to areas otherwise unreachable especially
during HADR missions.
It is an all-welded twin-screw vessel, able to trans-ship
cargo and supplies from ships lying offshore to water terminals or across the
beach.
Maximum cargo load is governed by the load-fuel balance and
varies between 140 and 180 tons.
A typical load of 175 ton gives the LCHs a range of 1,300
nautical miles, increasing to 2,280 nautical miles for a load of 150 tons.
Up to five shipping containers with HADR supplies and
equipment can also be embarked.
LCHs have a draft of two meters, length of 44.5 meters, beam
of 10.1 meters and displacement of 364 tons.
It has a speed to 10-13 knots and a range of 3,000 nautical
miles and a crew of 15.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=890814
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