Sarzana, 16th December 2020
The third Mine Countermeasure Vessel for the Algerian Navy named “El-Kasseh 3” was launched today at the Intermarine Shipyard in Sarzana.
Like the previous two vessels the characteristic of this one is the capacity to control a potentially mined sea area obtained by means of the protection of sea routes leading to naval bases and ports of interest. The main tasks of the Unit are active mine-hunting, characterized by activities of reconnaissance and neutralization of the possible mines, and passive mine-hunting, realized by means of the patrol of navigation channels, delimitation of minefields and the guiding of the ships through safe routes. The Vessel has been designed in order to accomplish also secondary missions such as research and rescue.
The contract for the third Mine Countermeasure Vessel to be assigned to Orizzonte Sistemi Navali was signed on 4th November 2018 and entered into force on 24rd December 2018, date in which the works for the preparation of the hull construction started.
The contractual delivery of the Naval Unit “El-Kasseh 3” is scheduled for May 2022.
The Vessel has an overall length of 52,45 m, an overall breadth of 10 m and a depth from the main deck of about 5 m, the full load displacement is of 720 tons. The main propulsion system, based on two 1000 KW engines, allows a maximum speed of 15 knots; an auxiliary propulsion system permits precision navigation and the low speed navigation on the minefield. The Ship can also accomplish operational activities with a maximum autonomy of 15 days.
The launching of this second Vessel witnesses once again the relationship of strong cooperation and mutual consideration which has been established between Algeria and the Italian Defense Industry, here represented by Orizzonte Sistemi Navali as Prime Contractor for the Mine Countermeasure Vessel Programme, with the support of Leonardo for the Combat System part and Intermarine for the Platform part.
