The ''Teluk Bintuni'' class, Indonesian designation AT-117M is a class of

tank landing ships A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engi ...

that is being built indigenously for the

Indonesian Navy The Indonesian Navy ( id, Tentara Nasional Indonesia Angkatan Laut, , Indonesian National Military-Naval Force, TNI-AL) is the naval branch of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. It was founded on 10 September 1945 and has a role to patrol In ...

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.

Design

''Teluk Bintuni'' has a length of , a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy * Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy ** Laser beam * Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized g ...

measuring , and a height of with a

draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a ves ...

of . She has a capacity of 476 passengers, including crew, alongside 10 Leopard 2 main battle tanks 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 . The ship is armed with light defensive weapons in form of a

Bofors 40 mm gun Bofors 40 mm gun is a name or designation given to two models of 40 mm calibre anti-aircraft guns designed and developed by the Swedish company Bofors: * Bofors 40 mm L/60 gun - developed in the 1930s, widely used in World War II and into the 1990 ...

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.

Ships

Operational history

In January 2018, during a naval landing exercise at the

Berhala Strait Berhala Strait is a strait which separates the island of Sumatra and Singkep in the South China Sea, Indonesia. Berhala island in the strait, attribution has been contested by Riau Islands and Jambi Jambi is a province of Indonesia. It is ...

, ''Teluk Bintuni'' received a signal from a tugboat which was being hijacked by

pirates Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

. The vessel launched an LCVP and apprehended the hijackers. She later brought supplies to areas affected by the

2018 Sulawesi earthquake and tsunami On 28 September 2018, a shallow, large earthquake struck in the neck of the Minahasa Peninsula, Indonesia, with its epicentre located in the mountainous Donggala Regency, Central Sulawesi. The magnitude 7.5 quake was located away from the p ...

. In August 2019, ''Teluk Lada'' was dispatched to rescue hostages aboard MV ''Mina Sejati'', a 36-crew squid fishing vessel which was hijacked by several members of her own crew off

Tual Tual (Indonesian: ''Kota Tual'') is a city in Maluku Province of Indonesia located within the Kei Islands. In 2007, it was separated from the rest of the Kei Islands, which form the Southeast Maluku Regency to form an independent city. The city ...

, Maluku. ''Mina Sejati'' was later discovered empty by ''Teluk Lada'', with eleven survivors testifying that three of the crew had massacred the others.

References

{{Indonesian Navy active ship classes Amphibious warfare vessels of the Indonesian Navy Amphibious warfare vessel classes