The U.S. Army officially marked the start of construction of its next-generation of landing craft with the keel-laying ceremony for the maneuver support vessel (light) (MSV[L]) SSG Elroy F. Wells in Vancouver, Washington, on 17 September. The vessel is being built as part of a 2017 contract calling for delivery of this first unit, followed by low-rate production of four sisters, and concluding with construction of as many as 32 additional MSV(L)s over a ten-year period. The new craft will have a 117-foot aluminum tribow monohull with an 28.2-foot beam. Three waterjet propulsors will provide a range of more than 360 nautical miles and a 21-knot (fully laden) top speed—a speed that increases to more than 30 knots when empty. They will be capable of transporting main battle tanks and other outsized loads up to 82 tons. MSV(L)s are designed to replace the Army’s existing fleet of mechanized landing craft—LCM(8) “Mike Boats”—which first entered service in the 1950s.
Poland launched its second Kormoran II–class mine-hunting vessel, the Albatros (pictured), and began construction on a third unit, the Mewa, in October. Class namesake Kormoran entered service late in 2017. Also known as Project 258–class minehunters, the ships are intended for mine countermeasure missions in the coastal zones of the Baltic and North seas but also are able to patrol Poland’s exclusive economic zone and perform additional small-craft auxiliary duties. The 850-ton (full load) vessels are built with a 192-foot non-magnetic steel hull with a 34-foot beam. The Albatros and Mewa are to be delivered in 2020 and 2021, respectively, replacing aging Krogulec-class (Project 206FM–class) minehunters launched in the mid-1960s.
The Royal New Zealand Navy
decommissioned two inshore patrol vessels (IPVs), the Rotoiti (pictured) and the Pukaki, on 17 October. The two craft—built in Australia and launched in 2007 and 2008, respectively—entered service in 2009 and were the oldest of four IPVs funded as part of New Zealand’s “Project Protector” procurement and naval modernization effort. Displacing just 340 tons, the 180-foot patrol ships have a 30-foot beam and a 10-foot draft. Although designed to operate up to 24 nautical miles from shore for maritime surveillance and patrol duties, the vessels’ smaller size proved unsuitable for extended-range operations, and they lacked helicopter-support capabilities; as a result, the acquisition of a new, longer-range Southern Ocean patrol vessel is planned for the mid-2020s. The two surviving IPVs, the Taupo and Hawea, are to undertake only local patrol duties within New Zealand’s exclusive economic zone.