PREMIUM: Indonesian MCMVs make sweeping progress

Two mine countermeasures vessels (MCMV) for the Indonesian Navy are being constructed in Lemwerder, Germany by the shipbuilder Abeking & Rasmussen.

A $204 million contract for the 62m-long ships was concluded in January 2019, and a steel-cutting ceremony was held on 26 November 2020. Featuring a non-magnetic steel hull, the MCMV design is based on the Frankenthal class operated by the German Navy.

Once commissioned, they will allow retirement of the navy’s two Pulau Rengat-class minehunters built in the Netherlands. These entered service in March 1988, so they are already long in the tooth.

In the mid-1990s, Indonesia also purchased Pulau Rote-class MCMVs from East Germany, and six remain in service in the minesweeping role.

It is unknown what sensors the new MCMVs will have, but a sonar will be supplemented by remotely operated vehicles. The German Navy utilises a DSQS-11A mine-hunting sonar, Seafox I and Seafox C AUVs.

The MCMVs will be powered by a MAN hybrid propulsion package. According to a MAN Energy Solutions press release issued on 10 February, the vessels have two MAN 12V175D-MM engines with an output of 2,220kW at 1,900rpm; a MAN Alpha CPP twin-screw propeller that incorporates an Alphatronic 3000 propulsion control system; and an AKA hybrid PTI pure electric system for silent operation whilst hunting for mines.

Ben ...