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View all search resultsKRI Balaputradewa launched, the first of two red and white frigates
Balaputradewa is taken from the name of the 11th king of Sriwijaya Kingdom, which came from the House of Syailendra.
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Workers pull the newly named and launched KRI Balaputradewa-322 out of the Orca graving dock on Dec. 19, 2025, at state-owned shipyard PT PAL Indonesia in Surabaya. KRI Balaputradewa is the first of two frigates using the Arrowhead 140 design from British shipyard Babcock International. (Courtesy of PT PAL Indonesia/-)
I
ndonesia marked an important milestone in its endeavor to modernize and strengthen the Indonesian Navy by naming and launching the locally made KRI Baladewa-322 frigate, the first of two frigates based on a British design.
The ship-naming ceremony for the KRI Balaputradewa, the first of the so-called red and white frigates (FMP) was held at state-owned shipyard PT PAL Indonesia in Surabaya on Thursday evening, PT PAL said in a press release.
The ceremony was led by the ship’s godmother, Yayuk Donny Ermawan Taufanto, the wife of Deputy Defense Minister Donny Ermawan Taufanto. The ceremony saw the smashing of a kendi (traditional water jug) into the ship’s bow.
Donny continued the ceremony with a statement declaring the launch of the Balaputradewa from PAL’s Orca graving dock.
Balaputradewa is taken from the name of the 11th king of the Sriwijaya Kingdom, which came from the House of Syailendra. Sriwijaya was a maritime kingdom existing from the seventh to the 11th century with its capital in what is now Palembang. At its widest extant, Sriwijaya’s kingdom included most of Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula and parts of Java.
The ceremony was held in the evening at high tide, as the FMP was launched from the graving dock directly into the sea, a company representative told The Jakarta Post on Friday.
Representing Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, Donny said the successful frigate construction was not only a technical achievement but also a reflection of the state’s confidence in the ability of the national defense industry.
