ST Marine Launches LMV Unity
Singapore Technologies Marine Ltd (ST Marine), the marine arm of Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd (ST Engineering), successfully launched the third Littoral Mission Vessel (LMV), Unity, designed and built for the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN).
The ceremony was officiated by Mr Ong Ye Kung, Acting Minister for Education (Higher Education and Skills) and Senior Minister of State for Defence. Mrs Diana Ong, spouse of Mr Ong, took on the role as the lady sponsor in accordance with naval traditions to name and launch the vessel at ST Marine’s Benoi Yard. The event was witnessed by many senior officials from Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) and the Singapore Armed Forces.
“The launch of the third Littoral Mission Vessel – Unity is yet another gratified moment for ST Marine,” said Ng Sing Chan, President for ST Marine. “We are making great strides in the LMV programme, made possible only with the hard-work and commitment from the project teams from MINDEF, RSN, DSTA and our many other partners. We are honoured to be given the opportunity to prime this contract and showcase our engineering expertise and the ability to manage large scale engineering systems.”
ST Marine was awarded the contract by MINDEF in 2013 to design and build eight LMVs for the RSN. The vessels are expected to be delivered from 2016 and be fully operational by 2020. They will replace the PVs designed and built by ST Marine in the 1990s.
The LMV programme is in serial production at ST Marine with eight ships under construction or in the pre-construction phase. The first LMV, Independence has returned to Tuas Naval Base on 26 May 2016 and is performing the Checkout, Integration and Testing (CIT) for weapon systems on-board. The second LMV, Sovereignty is preparing for sea trials while the third LMV, Unity will embark on harbour acceptance trials after her launch.