''Yết Kiêu'' (pennant number 927) is a multipurpose submarine search-and-rescue ship (MSSARS) of the

Vietnam People's Navy The Vietnam People's Navy (VPN; vi, Hải quân nhân dân Việt Nam), or the Naval Service (), also known as the Vietnamese People's Navy or simply Vietnam/Vietnamese Navy (), is the naval branch of the Vietnam People's Army and is responsi ...

. The ship is stationed at the Vietnamese Cam Ranh Naval Base, and it is purposed to support the operation of

VPN A virtual private network (VPN) extends a private network across a public network and enables users to send and receive data across shared or public networks as if their computing devices were directly connected to the private network. The be ...

's fleet of six diesel-electric

attack submarine An attack submarine or hunter-killer submarine is a submarine specifically designed for the purpose of attacking and sinking other submarines, surface combatants and merchant vessels. In the Soviet and Russian navies they were and are called "mul ...

s which were formally acquired in 2009 and firstly commissioned in early 2014.

Launching and design

Designated as ''MSSARS 9316'', the concept of ''Yết Kiêu'' was first revealed in early 2018 during the Vietship 2018 Exhibition in

Hanoi Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...

and confirmed to be built by the state-owned

Z189 Shipyard Z189 Shipyard or Z189 Factory (), formally the 189 Co., Ltd. (), also known as the 189 Shipbuilding Company (), is a state-owned shipyard in Vietnam, operated by the Ministry of Defense. The shipyard was established in 1989 in Hải An District ...

, using the design, technology and accessories supplied by

Damen Group The Damen Group is a Dutch defence, shipbuilding, and engineering conglomerate company based in Gorinchem, Netherlands. Though it is a major international group doing business in 120 countries, it remains a private family-owned company. Dame ...

. ''MSSARS 9316'' design was confirmed as slightly bigger than its sister ships, MV ''Stoker'' and MV ''Besant'', which were also designed by Damen and built by Z189 for the Australian DMS Maritime, when ''Yết Kiêu'' has slightly bigger length (), and it also has a slightly higher displacement and deck area. A

keel-laying Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

ceremony for ''MSSARS 9316'' was held in

in the city of

Haiphong Haiphong ( vi, Hải Phòng, ), or Hải Phòng, is a major industrial city and the third-largest in Vietnam. Hai Phong is also the center of technology, economy, culture, medicine, education, science and trade in the Red River delta. Haiphong wa ...

on May 24, 2018. The long and wide vessel, will have a displacement of 3,950 tons and feature a helipad as well as “robust dynamic positioning system and various other features” to make sure the ship can function unhindered in harsh weather conditions, such 9–12 force winds and waves as high as 14 m, according to a report by ''Vietnamnews''. Aside from its main role as a submarine rescue vessel, ''MSSARS 9316'' will also be capable of conducting underwater surveying,

seafloor mapping Seafloor mapping (or seabed mapping), also called seafloor imaging (or seabed imaging), is the measurement, mapping, and imaging of water depth of the ocean (''seabed topography'') or another given body of water. Bathymetric measurements are ...

, and will serve as an ocean research vessel, said the report, adding that the construction of the ship is expected to take 27 months. However, it took only 17 months to build the ship, and it was introduced by the first time to the public in December 2019, marking the first time Vietnam owns a vessel which is dedicated for submarine rescue mission.

Commission and operation

Initially, ''Yết Kiêu'' was expected to be fully operational before the scheduled Vietnamese-hosted International Maritime Review at

Nha Trang Nha Trang ( or ; ) is a coastal city and capital of Khánh Hòa Province, on the South Central Coast of Vietnam. It is bounded on the north by Ninh Hòa District, Ninh Hoà town, on the south by Cam Ranh city and on the west by Diên Khánh Distri ...

in May 2020. As requested by naval chief Vice Admiral Phạm Hoài Nam, it will participate in IMR 2020 with the rest of the Vietnam People's Navy fleet alongside visiting ships from the

ASEAN ASEAN ( , ), officially the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a political and economic union of 10 member states in Southeast Asia, which promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, militar ...

countries A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state (polity), state, nation, or other polity, political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, so ...

and other nations. However, due to the impact of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, the event was never held and the commission of the ship was also silently delayed. In June 2021, the submarine rescue vehicle (SRV) for the ship was first time revealed, hinting that the vessel is now closer to its commission. On July 30, 2021, at the

, the ship was formally commissioned into the Vietnam People's Navy. In August 2021, a Kamov Ka-32T

utility helicopter A utility helicopter is a multi-purpose helicopter capable of fulfilling many different roles. Civil Many civilian helicopters are made for utility work such as agricultural aircraft. Many police and fire departments maintain and operate utili ...

of the 954th Brigade, Vietnamese Naval Air Force landed on the ship's

helipad A helipad is a landing area or platform for helicopters and powered lift aircraft. While helicopters and powered lift aircraft are able to operate on a variety of relatively flat surfaces, a fabricated helipad provides a clearly marked hard s ...

for the very first time as a part of the acceptance progress. After the progress, the helipad and other equipment of the ship were confirmed meeting the technical requirements of the Navy and the manufacturers, being the basis for the training and implementing the missions of the ships in the near future.

Equipments

''Yết Kiêu'' is featured with a number of a number of high-tech equipment and vehicles to support its designated mission of searching and rescuing submersible vehicles:

Reference and sources

{{reflist Ships of the Vietnam People's Navy

Launching and design

Commission and operation

Equipments

See also

Reference and sources