Algeria signals a shift to domestic shipbuilding for Type 056 corvettes
The El Moutassa, the first and potentially last Chinese-built Type 056 corvette in the Algerian fleet. (Photo: The Malaysian Hydrography Centre)
The government recently commissioned a report on the viability of increased Algerian shipbuilding.
The Algerian Defense Ministry is understood to be looking to build new Type 056 corvettes at domestic shipyards.
In mid-2020, the country ordered a Type 056 corvette from the Chinese State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), at a cost of US$102 million. The El Moutassadi corvette was delivered in 2023.
It was understood that Algeria was in the market for a total of six Type 056 corvettes, but since the arrival of the El Moutassadi, there has been no sign of any additional Chinese-built vessels being agreed, and recently, Algerian Transport Minister Saïd Sayoud ordered a study on the feasibility of expanding shipbuilding facilities within Algeria.
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If Algeria manages to transition production from the Chinese yards to its own domestic shipyards, the production of any additional corvettes will take place under licence from China, as the vessels will still be built to the Type 056 design.
The Type 056 corvette has a length of around 96m, and displaces 1,500t. With a crew capacity of 78 people and a range of 3,500nm, it has been used historically as a patrol and escort vessel, and to deliver maritime protection.
Algeria has been aiming to diversify its economy away from its heavy reliance on oil income for around a decade, and expansion of sectors like shipbuilding has been central to the Algerian reimagination project.
The country’s significant Mediterranean coastline could make it an attractive shipbuilding and ship refurbishment centre in the region, which at least in part prompted the study on the potential of expanded shipbuilding.
Algeria’s defence budget for FY2025 surged to a record US$25 billion, one of the highest levels of defence expenditure recorded in Middle Eastern and North African countries.
A key factor in that budgetary surge was the ongoing modernization of the Algerian military, including the renewal of the country’s navy in the wake of a fresh rise in smuggling, illegal migration and terrorism in the Mediterranean.
No dates for any Algerian shipbuilding for the Type 056 corvettes have yet been announced.
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