HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Launches Second Landing Support Ship for Peru

On Tuesday, August 18, approximately one week after the launch of the first landing support ship / logistics support ship (Buque de Apoyo Logístico – BALOG) for the Peruvian Navy, B.A.P. Talara, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (HD HHI) successfully launched the second vessel in the class, B.A.P. Chimbote, in collaboration with Peru’s state-owned shipyard, SIMA Perú (Servicio Industrial de la Marina). B.A.P. Chimbote, launched this time, is actually the first of the two vessels to be built, which is why it carries pennant number “159”, while B.A.P. Talara, the second vessel, carries pennant number “160”. B.A.P. Chimbote and B.A.P. Talara are multi-purpose landing support ships designed to perform a wide range of missions, including the transport of personnel and cargo, logistics support, and disaster relief and emergency response operations. Both vessels are named after major Peruvian port cities. My story for Naval News, here.

Naval Group Offers Latest MP-OPV Design for Lithuanian Navy

On July 1, 2026, Naval Group and four Lithuanian research institutions signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) in Vilnius to establish SHIELD Lab, a maritime defence innovation laboratory supporting the Lithuanian Navy’s future capability development. The initiative, involving Kaunas University of Technology (KTU), Klaipėda University, the Baltic Institute of Advanced Technology (BPTI), and the Center for Physical Sciences and Technology (FTMC), is part of Naval Group’s industrial cooperation proposal for Lithuania’s Multi-Purpose Offshore Patrol Vessel (MP-OPV) programme. SHIELD Lab will focus on the Lithuanian Navy’s research priorities, developing a dedicated R&D roadmap for the future MP-OPV programme, advancing technologies for the international VANTAGE programme, and supporting other collaborative defence innovation projects. My story for Naval News, here.