The Peruvian Navy has marked the beginning of construction on its second Makassar-class landing platform dock (LPD) Paita with a keel-laying ceremony at the state-owned SIMA shipyard at Calao.
Defence Minister Jorge Nieto Montesinos led the ceremony for the second of two navy's LPDs. The lead ship in the class, BAP Pisco was launched in April and is expected to be commissioned in 2019.
The ships were designed by South Korea's Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) in collaboration with SIMA. DSME also provided the design for the Indonesian Navy's three Makassar-class ships.
Peruvian state and navy officials also attended the send-off of the polar oceanographic research vessel BAP Carrasco on its maiden deployment to the Antarctic.
Her crew of 57 is en route to the Peruvian Antarctic scientific station Machu Picchu, where it is scheduled to stay until March.