CONSTRUCTION of the two strategic sealift vessels (SSVs) that the Navy ordered from an Indonesian company has started.
Vice Adm. Jesus Millan, Navy flag officer in command, led a Navy delegation to Indonesia last week for the ceremonial “steel-cutting ceremony” that formally starts the construction of the two ships.
Other officials, including Rear Adm. Romeo Santiago Nebres, commander of the Naval Sea Systems Command; Commo. Narciso Vingson Jr., commander of the Sealift Amphibious Force; and Capt. Alberto Carlos, assistant chief of Naval Staff for Logistics (N-4), accompanied Millan during the trip.
Cmdr. Lued Lincuna, chief of the Navy’s Public Affairs Office, said the first and second SSVs should be delivered to the Navy not later than May next year and May 2017, respectively.
The acquisition of the two SSVs, with a total budgeted cost of P4 billion and sourced out from the military’s modernization budget, started in October 2013 through an acquisition memorandum that was issued by Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin.
On November 18, 2014, the bidding was bagged by PT Pal Indonesia, the single calculated responsive bidder with a bid price of P3.870 billion.
Lincuna said the SSVs are programmed to be the Navy’s floating command center, carrying out their main purpose as military sealift and transport vessels, and also for humanitarian assistance and disaster-response operations.
The vessels are also critical assets for civil-military operations owing to their capability to transport large number of soldiers, logistics and supplies.
Each of SSVs has the capacity to house three helicopters. “The Navy’s Augusta Westland 109s are programmed to be onboard components of these vessels,” Lincuna said.
The helicopters, which were recently acquired, were multipurpose rotary wing vehicles.