Fincantieri officially launches LPD Al Fulk for Qatari Emiri Navy.

According to a PR published by Fincantieri on January 24, 2023, in the presence of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defence Affairs, H.E. Dr. Khalid bin Mohamed Al Attiyah, and Italian MoD, Guido Crosetto, the launching ceremony of “Al Fulk”, the amphibious vessel (LPD) ordered to Fincantieri by the Qatari MoD within the national naval acquisition program, took place at the Palermo shipyard.
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Amphibious transport dock (LPD) Al Fulk, Palermo. (Picture source: Fincantieri)

The ceremony was attended, among others, by Staff Major General (Sea) Abdullah Hassan AlSulaiti, Commander of Qatar Emiri Naval Forces, Admiral Enrico Credendino, Chief of Staff of Italian Navy, Lieutenant General Luciano Portolano, Secretary General of Defence and National Armaments Director, H.E. Khalid bin Yousef Al-Sada, the Ambassador of the State of Qatar to Italy,  Paolo Toschi, Ambassador of Italy to Qatar, Renato Schifani, President of Sicily, Roberto Lagalla, Mayor of Palermo, welcomed by Pierroberto Folgiero, CEO of Fincantieri.

The LPD, built entirely by Italian shipyards, is designed consistent with the RINAMIL (rules for naval ships classification) rules to ensure extremely efficient land-air-marine connections. It will be highly flexible and capable of fulfilling different kinds of tasks, from humanitarian interventions to support the Armed Forces and land operations.

The ship is about 143 meters long, 21.5 meters wide and it will be able to accommodate about 550 persons on board, equipped with two vehicle ramps and an internal floodable dock, capable of accommodating a ready-to-go LCM (Landing Craft Mechanized) that can also be stored on garage deck, and can be deployed using a system of davits. Furthermore, the flight deck is sized for hosting NH90 helicopter.

An amphibious transport dock, also called a landing platform dock (LPD), is an amphibious warfare ship, a warship that embarks, transports, and lands elements of a landing force for expeditionary warfare missions.

Several navies currently operate this kind of ship. The ships are generally designed to transport troops into a war zone by sea, primarily using landing craft, although invariably they also have the capability to operate transport helicopters.