Philippine Navy’s second amphibious landing dock, Davao Del Sur (LD602), on Tuesday departed the Indonesian state-owned PT PAL shipyard in Surabaya and headed for Manila, according to Indonesian media.
Davao Del Sur is the second of two Philippine Navy amphibious landing docks (formerly known as strategic sealift vessels) built in Indonesia under a PhP4 billion (approx $80 million) contract signed in August 2013.
Davao Del Sur (LD602) was launched on September 29, 2016, in Surabaya, Indonesia. Both Davao Del Sur and its predecessor, BRP Tarlac (LD601), were named after the province of the Philippines.
The two LD vessels are the same type of ships as the Makassar-class landing platform dock ships in service with the Indonesian Navy. Both ships will serve as a floating command and control platform especially in the conduct of humanitarian assistance and disaster response (HADR) and will also serve as a military sealift and transport vessel.
The vessels are 123 meters long and 21.8 meters wide. According to the Philippine Navy, they will be able to reach a maximum speed of 16 knots and carry a crew of 121 with 500 troops. Featuring helipads for three helicopters and a hangar, the ships are the largest vessels in the Philippine Navy.