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The Landing Helicopter Dock (LHD) Juan Carlos I, the Spanish navy's biggest vessel, which left Spain on May 2 to evaluate endurance and long-distance navigational performance, anchored in İstanbul's Karaköy port on May 30.
The Spanish vessel was introduced at a press conference in İstanbul to promote the ship by Commanding Officer Cristóbal Gonzalez-Aller and Lt. Cdr. Manolo Calvar on Thursday.
At the press conference, Gonzalez-Aller stated: The Juan Carlos I is the largest vessel in the Spanish navy's history. Thus, the vessel is named in honor of Juan Carlos I, the current king of Spain. The LHD is the first of its kind and Navantia is in the process of making three more ships like this.
Gozalez-Aller later said İstanbul is their favorite port in the eastern Mediterranean region. İstanbul is a modern metropolitan city and there are a lot of historical sites to see. We are enjoying our time here with all our crew and some of our families have also come here to see us and visit İstanbul at the same time, said Gonzalez-Aller.
Gonzalez-Aller stated that Spain has strong relations with Turkey and he hopes that their visit will strengthen the relationship between the two Mediterranean countries.
In an interview with Today's Zaman, Lt. Cdr. Carval said: The transportation speed of this LHD is so high. We have two operation theaters, a dentist's room, a sick bay, a consulting room, a first aid room, an ICU, an injury selection area, an X-Ray room, a lab and a chemist's room in the ship. Six helicopters or aircraft can land or take off from the ship at the same time. This number is reduced to four when it is a military craft.
A midshipman, Antonio Martorell, told Today's Zaman, We have entertainment facilities in the dock, such as, a computer lab with high speed connection to Internet, a gym, a sunbed, steam room, swimming pool and many other facilities to spend our free time in.
The LHD was launched in March 2008 at Navantia Ferrol Shipyard. The strategic projection ship cost approximately 360 million euros. The ship was designed in 2005, completed sea trials in June 2010 and was commissioned in September 2010.
The LHD has four decks -- a dock and garage for heavy cargo, a habitability deck, a hangar, a light cargo garage and a flight deck. The LHD is a multipurpose vessel that can be used as an aircraft carrier as well as for amphibious and relief operations.
The hangar can accommodate 12 aircraft, while six aircraft can be parked on the flight deck. The ship has two elevators and each of them can carry up to 24 passengers. The dock has a capacity to carry bigger aircraft in the future.
