NNS Kada, the Nigerian Navy's new landing ship, pictured before its launch on 7 June 2021 at the Albwardy Damen shipyard in Sharjah. (Nigerian Navy)
The Nigerian Navy's (NN's) new landing ship tank (LST), NNS Kada (LST 1314), arrived at its new home port in Apapa, Lagos on 27 May.
Kada was ordered from Damen Group in 2019 and built at Albwardy Damen shipyard in Sharjah, the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It was laid down in December 2019, launched in June 2021, and handed over to the NN in Sharjah on 30 March. The vessel departed for Nigeria on 1 April and prior to its arrival in Lagos, made stopovers in five countries: Angola (Luanda), Gabon (Port Gentil), Kenya (Mombasa), Oman (Port of Duqm), and South Africa (Cape Town).
Based on Damen's LST 100 design, the ship will be used for a range of duties including strategic transport of equipment and troops, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations, and to project maritime security into the Gulf of Guinea.
With 1,300 dwt, an overall length of 100 m, and a 16 m beam, the LST can carry a crew complement of 32 plus 16 embarked marine forces (EMF) in the deckhouse, with accommodation for an additional 234 EMF at mid-ship below the main deck.
Kada is powered by two Caterpillar 3516 diesel engines and four Caterpillar C18 generators to provide a top speed of 16 kt and a standard range of 4,000 n miles at 15 kt.
It features a bow ramp and davits for two landing craft, a 540 m² roll-on/off (ro-ro) deck, and a 420 m² cargo deck for dry stores and ammunition.
The ship deck can carry one medium-sized helicopter.
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