Australian Landing Helicopter Dock News

Australian Landing Helicopter Dock (ALHD) ship hull is for onboard Heavy Transport Vessel (HTV) delivery to Australia from Spain. Blue Marlin, the largest semi-submersible HTV available to date, is to load shortly the Navantia manufactured hull (230 meters in length) of the amphibious ALHD flagship Canberra for delivery to the Royal Australian Navy. A complex technical challenge emerged: the aircraft carrier hull was calculated to protrude 55 meters from the aft end of the Blue Marlin.

Mast modules for the 27,000 tonne Landing Helicopter Dock (LHD), fabricated and constructed at BAE Systems Henderson, facility are now completed and ready to be transported to Melbourne. The three mast modules weighing between 19 and 36 tonnes will form part of the superstructure of the LHDs and will house equipment including communication and combat systems, navigation and air traffic control radars and infrared search and track sensors. The mast modules will be loaded onto the heavy lift ship Henan Scan berthed at BAE Systems wharf at their Henderson load-out facility.