Nigerian Navy launches its new Landing Ship Tank LST 1314 at Damen Shipyard in UAE.

According to information published by the Nigerian Navy on June 7, 2021, the new Landing Ship Tank (LST) for the Nigerian Navy (LST 1314) was launched on June 7, 2021, at Damen Shipyard, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. The construction of the ship began about 2 years ago and when commissioned will replace the first set of LSTs of the NN, NNS AMBE and NNS OFIOM which have been decommissioned.
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Nigerian Navy’s newest landing ship tank was launched on June 7, 2021, at Sharjah, UAE. (Picture source Nigerian Navy)

The new LST has a complement of 32 crew and 250 embarked persons and a length of 100.08m. She is powered by 2 Caterpillar/Cat 3516 C-rating engines and 4 Caterpillar C-18 generators. Furthermore, she has an endurance of 15 days @ 15 knots. If she is to be used for humanitarian missions/evacuation, she can accommodate over 450 persons on its upper and lower decks in short trips.

The bid opening process for the procurement of the LST was held on 19 December 2017 and supervised/conducted by a team from the Bureau of Public Procurement as well as a technical committee of the Nigerian Navy. The Shipbuilding companies that participated were Damen Shipyards of the Netherlands, Anadolu Deniz of Turkey, and Indian Shipyards GOA of India.

On 13 June 2019, the NN and Damen Shipyards signed the final general arrangement plan and specifications on the LST 100 and this date of 13 June 2019 became the effective date of contract for the LST 100. The contract duration as agreed by both parties was approximately 36 months from the effective date of contract. The Keel laying ceremony for the LST 100 was held on the 9 December 2019 at The Damen-Albwardy Shipyard in Sharjah the UAE. The immediate past CNS Vice Admiral IE Ibas placed the Nigerian Navy insignia into the keel and sealed it.

Over the last 2 years several Factory Acceptance Tests with regards to various components of the LST 100 have been jointly and successfully completed by the NN and Damen Shipyards. Most notable among these FAT’s was the main propulsion engines tested in 2019/ 2020 and the Remote Weapon system which was also successfully tested in March 2021.