IMDEX 2019: Damen Schelde seeks new opportunities in South East Asia region.

On May 14, at IMDEX Asia 2019, Damen Schelde's President Director, Sir Hein van Ameijden, told Navy Recognition that the Dutch shipbuilder was hoping to build some SIGMA 10514 Perusak Kawal Rudal (PKR) frigates for the Indonesian Navy. He also added that the company was expecting some business in South East Asia, including Singapore.

The SIGMA 10514 PKR frigate on display at IMDEX 2019, Singapore (Picture Source: Navy Recognition)

As a reminder, in February 2017, Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding has handed over the first SIGMA 10514 Perusak Kawal Rudal (PKR) frigate to the Indonesian Ministry of Defence, on schedule and on budget. The ceremony took place at the PT PAL shipyard in Surabaya where the vessel was assembled. The Indonesian Ministry of Defence awarded the contract to Damen as the main contractor for the construction of the first SIGMA 10514 PKR in December 2012. On receiving the ship, named the Raden Eddy Martadinata after one of the founders of the Indonesian Navy, the Ministry handed it on to the Navy.

The 105-metre, 2365 tonne PKR frigates are designed to undertake a wide range of missions in and around the waters of Indonesia, an archipelago nation made up of over 18,000 islands. Their primary mission is anti-air, anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare. However, they are also equipped for maritime security, search and rescue, and humanitarian support tasks.

The Raden Eddy Martadinatawas built using a collaborative modular process operating simultaneously at Damen Schelde Naval Shipyard (DSNS) in the Netherlands and PT PAL shipyard. The vessel is made up of six modules, and for the Raden Eddy Martadinata four of these were built at PT PAL while the other two modules – the power plant and the bridge & command centre - were built and fully tested at DSNS before being shipped for final assembly at PT PAL.

This process brings many other benefits, including allowing Damen to build top quality vessels anywhere in the world. It also is the best way for Damen to fulfil its contractual obligation to Indonesia’s defence ministry to deliver an exceptionally extensive knowledge and technology transfer programme. This has the explicit aim of establishing a centre of naval shipbuilding expertise at the PT PAL shipyard. By collaborating closely on the first two vessels the transfer of skills and upgrading of the yard is taking place smoothly and with a strong spirit of cooperation.