Abu Dhabi Ship Building (ADSB) delivered two, 16 meter SeaKeeper Landing Craft to the Royal Bahrain Naval Force at a signing ceremony at the ADSB shipyard facility in Mussafah.

“These landing craft built in composite materials are a striking example of the diverse capability of ADSB and the advanced ship building technology we use. Our technological sophistication and shipbuilding expertise have made us the leading defence shipbuilder in the region with 74 ships and boats on order along with 32 ship refits and upgrades underway,” stated Homaid Al Shemmari, ADSB chairman.

ADSB completed the two vessels well ahead of schedule and to the very high standards demanded by the Bahrain Navy.

The SeaKeeper Landing Craft were accepted on behalf of the Kingdom of Bahrain Defence Force by Naval Commander Brigadier Abdullah Saeed Al Mansouri.

“These two SeaKeeper Landing Craft will form an important part of Bahrain’s defence capabilities,” said Commander Brigadier Al Mansouri.

“These are the first naval vessels constructed by ADSB for the Royal Bahrain Naval Force and are also the first naval vessels built by another GCC Country for our navy,” he added.

The Kingdom of Bahrain Defence Force entered a contract with ADSB in November 2008 for four vessels.  In parallel with the two SeaKeeper Landing Craft, ADSB is building two steel 42 meter Naval Landing Craft that will be completed and delivered during 2010.

Both SeaKeeper vessels were built in ADSB’s state of the art Composite Moulding Facility. The vessels are based on the proven VT Halmatic Sea Keeper design for vessels that can provide rapid transport of vehicles and equipment. Each vessel is powered by twin marine diesel engines driving water jet propulsion units providing speeds in excess of 30 knots and a range of 320 Nautical Miles at cruising speed.

The water jet installations make these vessels highly maneuverable at all speeds with the added advantage of safe shallow water operation.  The bow ramp door allows direct access for “Humvee” or other types of all purpose vehicles as well as a wide range of mobile equipment to be easily deployed onto a beach-head. The main cargo deck area can accommodate two “Humvee” sized vehicles.

ADSB is presently carrying out further expansion of its shipbuilding facility with the construction of a Small Vessel Outfitting Facility which will be completed by the end of this year. It will be purpose-built for outfitting all composite vessels from the Composite Moulding Facility as well as smaller aluminum vessels being built by the company. This will further add to ADSB’s throughput capacity by facilitating the outfitting of multiple small vessels simultaneously with the moulding or fabrication of new hulls.

“ADSB is the only shipyard in the region with capability to build, refit, repair and upgrade complex naval vessels. We will offer the Royal Bahrain Naval Force complete Through Life Support Services through our newly formed joint venture company Gulf Logistics and Naval Support,” said William Saltzer, ADSB chief.-TradeArabia News Service