The Indonesian Navy commissioned its sixth landing platform dock (LPD) vessel on 21 January. The vessel named “KRI Semarang” (hull number 594) will be the 5th vessel of the Makassar-class. The Makassar class is a class of South Korea designed and build Landing Platform Dock. The ships designed by Daesun Shipbuilding & Engineering Co and based on the earlier company product Tanjung Dalpele class that sold to Indonesian Navy. KRI Semarang (594), has been inducted into the Indonesian Navy Armada I fleet, and will operate largely in waters off the Banten region, Central Java, Sumatra, West Java, and West Kalimantan.
In 2004, Indonesia entered into a $150 million contract with Dae Sun Shipbuildings & Engineering for the construction of four LPDs under a slightly modified project (length 124 m). The first two ships Makassar and Surabaya were built in South Korea with delivery to the Indonesian fleet in 2007, and two other ships Banjarmasin and Banda Aceh were built by PT PAL in Surabaya with the assistance of the South Korean company, with transfer of technology and full rights to the project. The ships were transferred to the Indonesian Navy in 2009 and 2011. Currently Indonesia operates 6 LPDs including the 2 hospital ships, plus 2 Makassar-class and 2 Banjarmasin-subclass.
The contract for the construction of this ship was concluded by the Indonesian Navy with PT PAL on January 11, 2017. The Indonesian Navy has decided to continue procurement of the design and ordered a sixth LPD vessel (the third built by PT PAL). The new ship, with a standard displacement of 7,200 tons and a length of 124 meters, is another evolution of the Makassar type, differing from the latter by the increased volume of the helicopter hangar (possibly up to three helicopters) and living quarters for personnel (the total capacity of 771 people, including the crew, compared to 644 people aboard Makassar ).
