The Indonesian Navy Military Maritime Command (Kolinlamil) comissionns the Landing Ship, Tank (LST) KRI Teluk Youtefa 522 at Pondok Dayung Jetty, Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, on July 12. The KRI Teluk Youtefa 522 will serve in the ranks of Kolinlamil by conducting military sealift operations in military warfare operations (MWO) and military operations other than warfare (OMSP). The Landing Ship, Tank (LST) is designed to carry Leopard 2 main battle tank belonging to the Indonesian Army and the Marine Corps BMP-3F amphibious infantry fighting vehicles. The KRI Teluk Youtefa 522, which is named after Youtefa Bay in Jayapura, Papua.
Indonesian Navy has long been engaged in a bid to boost its maritime capabilities in order to address a range of domestic and foreign challenges and managing the world’s largest archipelago and the world’s second longest coastline. As part of this effort, Indonesia has sought tank landing ships (LST) for the Indonesian Navy. The success of a private shipyard in Bandar Lampung in building a warship ordered by the Indonesian Navy has raised confidence in the shipbuilding industry. It is seen by many as an indication that Indonesian warship construction is comparable to that of other nations.
The KRI Teluk Youtefa 522 produced ships of PT. Daya Radar Utama (DRU) in Srengsem, Panjang, Bandar Lampung. The Teluk Bintuni class, Indonesian designation AT-120M (Angkut Tank 120 meter) is a class of tank landing ships that is being built indigenously for the Indonesian Navy by various Indonesian local shipyards. It was announced that the Indonesian Navy intends to acquire a total of twelve vessels of the same class with some modifications from the lead ship to improve ship’s capability. Recently only eleven ships are still in active service, two ships were lost due to an accident and one ship was retired.
Teluk Bintuni has a length of 120 metres, a beam measuring 18 metres, and a height of 7.8 metres with a draft of 3 metres. She has a capacity of 476 passengers, including crew, alongside 10 Leopard 2 tanks or 15 BMP-3F ifvs and a helicopter. The ship was designed to be able to stay at sea for 20 days. With a crew of 119, consisting of 113 sailors and 6 helicopter crew, she has a displacement of 2,300 tonnes and has a maximum speed of 16 knots. The ship is armed with light defensive weapons in form of a Bofors 40 mm gun and two 12.7 mm heavy machine guns. The vessel could also carry four LCVP boats, and is equipped with a crane for cargo loading and offloading.
