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PT PAL positions hospital ship for Philippine Navy's potential requirement

By Ridzwan Rahmat |

Indonesian hospital ship KRI Dr Radjiman Wedyodiningrat seen here at Changi Naval Base in 2023. PT PAL has received an RFI for the vessel type from the Philippine Navy. (Janes/Ridzwan Rahmat)

PT PAL has offered a variant of its landing platform dock (LPD)-derived hospital ship in response to a request for information (RFI) from the Philippine Navy.

In response to questions from Janes, the Indonesian shipbuilder confirmed that a follow-up meeting on the RFI is being held with naval representatives at the Philippines Marine (PHILMARINE) exhibition, which is taking place in Manila from 19 to 21 June.

“We consider this requirement seriously and the follow-up meeting on our offering at PHILMARINE is testament to this,” a PT PAL spokesperson said.

“This hospital ship that we offer is one of our prime products and it can undertake humanitarian operations in addition to providing healthcare missions across maritime territories,” the spokesperson added.

The Indonesian Navy operates a fleet of four hospital ships, the first of which is the South Korean shipbuilder Dae Sun-built KRI Dr Soeharso (990), which was commissioned in 2003.

A second hospital ship, KRI Semarang (594), was commissioned in January 2019, but this PT PAL-built vessel was initially constructed with amphibious assault ship specifications. It is operating temporarily as a hospital ship to fulfil ongoing service requirements.

The third vessel, KRI Dr Wahidin Sudirohusodo (991), is the first purpose-built hospital ship to be constructed in Indonesia by PT PAL and it was commissioned in January 2022.

A fourth vessel, KRI Dr Radjiman Wedyodiningrat, was commissioned in January 2023. It was launched by PT PAL in August 2022.

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