Vietnam launches fourth locally-built RoRo 5612 landing craft

  

The new RoRo 5612 for the VPN, with hull number 529. Photo c/o VietDefense defense page.

Vietnamese shipbuilder Song Thu Corporation has launched the fourth Damen RoRo 5612 landing craft built for the Vietnam People’s Navy (VPN).

The ship, with hull number 529, was launched in Song Thu’s facility in Da Nang on 12 March 2021, and is actually the first ship of the class ordered directly by the VPN from the shipbuilder under a contract signed on December 2019.

Three other ships of the class were originally built by Song Thu Corporation for the Venezuelan government, but were not delivered due to payment issues. These ships were then procured and absorbed by the VPN.

These ships are expected to improve the VPN’s amphibious, transport, and logistics capabilities, including supplying Vietnamese outposts in the Spratly Islands.

The RoRo 5612 landing craft was designed by Dutch shipbuilder Damen, and has an overall length of 57.27 meters, a beam of 12 meters, and a maximum draft of 2.75 meters. It displaces at around 600 tons, and has a maximum displacement of 1,480 tons at full load.

It is powered by 2 MTU 12V2000 M61/1A diesel engines producing 1,610 brake horsepower at 1,800 rpm,  and has a maximum speed of around 12 knots.

The RoRo 5612 has a crew of 16 officers and sailors.




[1] VietDefense
[2] Navy Recognition