Following two years of construction works, the Algerian Navy’s future flagship the Kalaat Beni-Abbes (hull number 474) landing dock ship was launched at Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri on January 8th, 2014. The amphibious vessel, displacing 8 800 tons, will now proceed to sea-trials aimed at verifying the ship’s onboard systems prior to its delivery scheduled for November this year.
The BDSL (Bâtiment de Débarquement et de Soutien Logistique) worth over 400 million euros was ordered in 2011 from Orizzonte Sistemi Navali, a joint venture between Fincantieri and Selex ES.
Kalaat Beni-Abbes is a somewhat larger version of Italian Navy’s San Giusto amphibious transport dock (LPD) class. It is driven by two Wärtsilä 12V32 diesel engines rated at 6000 kW, enabling it to reach a maximum speed of 20 knots.
This new amphibious vessel can accommodate 3 Landing Craft Mechanized (LCM) and up to 15 armored vehicles.
[mappress] Naval Today Staff, January 23, 2014; Image: Paolo Bertolucci, Wikimedia