Indonesian Navy takes delivery of German-built minehunters

The Indonesian Navy's new MCMVs, seen here leading a sail pass at the handover ceremony on 14 August. (PT PAL)

The Indonesian Navy has officially taken delivery of two new German-built mine-countermeasure vessels (MCMVs) from the Indonesian Ministry of Defence (MoD).

The boats, which will be in service as KRI Pulau Fani and KRI Pulau Fanildo with pennant numbers 731 and 732, respectively, were received in a handover ceremony on 14 August in Surabaya.

In what can be considered to be an unusual departure from earlier vessel handover ceremonies, a model of the vessel was handed over by Indonesian Minister of Defence Prabowo Subianto to Indonesian Navy Chief Admiral Yudo Margono to mark the delivery.

In addition, a sail pass involving the two MCMVs was held to top off the ceremony. Accompanying the MCMVs were five KCR-60M fast attack craft – KRI Kapak , KRI Panah , KRI Halasan , KRI Tombak , and KRI Sampari – and the trimaran hull attack craft, KRI Golok .

The Indonesian MoD signed a contract with Abeking & Rasmussen to design and construct two MCMVs in January 2019. A steel-cutting ceremony for the programme was held in November 2020, and Pulau Fani was launched in October 2022.

It derives its main hull form from Abeking & Rasmussen's MHV60 design. It has an overall length of 61.4 m, a breadth of 11.1 m, and a design draft of 3.3 m. The main hull has been constructed out of non-magnetic steel, and the vessel can operate as a ‘mother ship' for unmanned MCM systems.

Janes