The Philippine Navy (PN) on Tuesday announced that the construction of its two additional landing docks in Indonesia has started.

PN vice commander Rear Adm. Caesar Bernard Valencia and Philippine Ambassador to Indonesia Gina Jamoralin headed the delegation who witnessed the keel laying rites for the Navy’s third landing dock and steel cutting rites for the fourth landing dock at the shipbuilding facilities of PT Pal Indonesia in the city of Surabaya on Monday.

“It is considered as another significant milestone in shipbuilding following its steel cutting (of the third landing dock) held in August 2023,” the PN said in a statement.

Steel cutting signifies the start of the construction of the ship while keel laying refers to the building of the ship’s backbone. These processes signal the official start of the ships’ construction.

“These two vessels will be identical to the PN’s Tarlac-class landing docks — the BRP Tarlac (LD-601) and BRP Davao Del Sur (LD-602), which are derivative of the Makassar-class landing platform dock of the Indonesian Navy. The acquisition of two additional LDs is part of the Landing Dock Acquisition Project (LDAP) for the PN with an approved budget of PHP5.5 billion that also includes mission-essential equipment,” the PN added.

The first two landing docks of the PN were delivered from 2016 to 2017.

The PN said the acquisition is expected to significantly boost its strategic sealift capability and enhance the capacity of its personnel primarily in humanitarian assistance and disaster response operations.

Once completed, the PN said the two new landing docks would enable it to be more effective and efficient in fulfilling its mandate to protect the country’s territorial waters. (PNA)