US Navy: Building Small Combatants to Create Force Structure and Capability
![The Littoral Combat Ship has been made more lethal with the addition of the Naval Strike Mis-sile, seen here installed on USS Charleston (LCS 18). (U.S. Navy photo by Ensign James French)](https://images.marinelink.com/images/maritime/w200h200c/the-littoral-combat-ship-has-133998.jpg)
The U.S. Navy needs more ships. And that means the Navy has to build more ships than it is decommissioning.The sea service has a stated a goal of 355 ships, and as many as 500 and more when unmanned platforms are counted. There are 298 ships in the fleet today. For surface ships, this number includes a high-low mix of highly capable large surface combatants, and smaller ships such as littoral combat ships LCS).The Navy’s smallest combatants are the 330-ton, 197-foot coastal patrol boats (PCs). Up until recently, ten of them have been serving in the Middle East with the U.S.
BMT, Penguin Commission Hybrid-electric Vessel for Singapore MPA
![Image courtesy BMT](https://images.marinelink.com/images/maritime/w200h200c/image-courtesy-bmt-133096.jpg)
A hybrid vessel for the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), co-developed by BMT and Penguin Shipyard International, was recently commissioned.The hybrid-electric aluminium catamaran, dubbed MPA Guardian, is a 35-mpatrol boat designed to conduct patrolling activities, search and rescue, oil spill response, drone operations and salvage support. It will also be used as the government’s test bed for new technologies and equipment.With accommodation for up to 24 people and a state-of-the-art wheelhouse…
Shipbuilding: Steel Cut for New Methanol-Fueled Tanker Stena Pro Patria
![Work underway in the creation of IMOIIMeMAX methanol-fuelled 49,900 DWT vessel Stena Pro Patria. Photo: Stena Bulk](https://images.marinelink.com/images/maritime/w200h200c/work-underway-in-the-creation-119593.jpg)
Proman Stena Bulk Ltd confirmed that steel cutting has commenced for its state-of-the-art IMOIIMeMAX methanol-fuelled 49,900 DWT vessel Stena Pro Patria, which is due for delivery in early 2022. Stena Pro Patria will be the first of the three methanol vessels to be built by the joint venture between Swedish Stena Bulk and the Swiss-based Proman Shipping.The steel cutting for Stena Pro Patria, which started on January 7, 2021, is taking place at Guangzhou Shipyard International (GSI) in China and marks the operational beginning of Stena Bulk and Proman’s journey together as a joint venture.